TRANSCRIPT: On CNN News Central, Majority Leader Schumer Discusses President Biden’s Accomplishments And The State Of The Union Address

Washington, D.C. –  Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on CNN News Central on last night’s State of the Union address.  

John Berman: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer joins me now, Senator, thank you so much for being with us. Before the address, White House officials were previewing all the energy that President Biden would show, after the speech, the Democratic reviews were all about the energy that President Biden showed in the speech. Why is it so important to point out the energy?

Leader Schumer: Well, it's infectious. I walked into that room – I've been to a whole lot of these speeches, but I was so excited by how Biden presented himself and what he said. The speech showed that America is strong and Biden is strong. And anyone who sat in that room would have no doubt that Biden is ready for a great second campaign and, even more, a great second term. He was filled with focus and enthusiasm for doing the things he truly believes in: helping the middle-class, making America strong. And the contrast with Trump – Trump, who wants to give in to Putin. Trump, and he said it directly without mentioning Trump's name, who lied about the election. When he mentioned lying about the election, you should have seen the Republicans’ faces in the room. They all looked down, they were sullen. They were sullen the whole speech, but they knew he was telling the truth and they were going along with the Big Lie. So the contrast, the strength and the focus on the middle class – we Democrats walked out of that room exhilarated. This is the Joe Biden we know, this is the Joe Biden we're going to see over the next six months on campaign trail. And this is the Joe Biden, we're going to go to govern with in a Democratic House, Democratic Senate, Democratic President in 2025. I'm still enthusiastic this morning as I guess you could tell.  

Berman: Is it the Joe Biden, as you say, that you feel has been missing or Democrats feel has been missing in the last weeks and months?

Schumer: Joe Biden is intent on governing and governing well. And in his three years, as you know, he's had a record – the amount of accomplishments, I might add helped by our Senate majority, that he has had, are enormous. But when you focus on governing, you're focusing on governing. We're now at a time when we know who the Republican nominee is, it’s Donald Trump. We know we're only six months away for an election and you're going to see this Joe Biden -  we've seen this Joe Biden before. I saw him when I was a young House member, I saw it when I was in the Senate through the years before I became Leader. And we know this the Joe Biden, when he goes out on campaign trail, is great. So I don't have any problems with what he has done, creating a great record and now campaigning on it.

Berman: So campaigning on it is exactly the criticism that he is getting from some about this speech because this was a State Of The Union address, which is a constitutional responsibility, not a campaign responsibility, and Republicans took issue with that. Mike Johnson called it an overly partisan speech. Senator Eric Schmitt said perhaps the most divisive State Of The Union I've ever seen. Tom Emmer, one of the most divisive State Of The Union addresses in history. Gary Palmer, I came for The State Of The Union speech and walked away, walked into a campaign speech by Biden.

Schumer: Divisive? Divisive, coming from the Republican House, which has been the most divisive body we've seen in decades, when all Democrats are united? Give me a break. They had nothing to say. They couldn't criticize the speech, they couldn't get up and do their usual histrionics because it was powerful, so strong, so aimed at the money, what the American middle-class needs, that they had virtually no answers. Please – give me a break. They didn't have a real criticism, so they call it political or divisive. Pot calling the kettle black, the Republican House members calling Joe Biden divisive? Give me a break.

Berman: You don't think there is a line between a political speech and a presidential speech?

Schumer: That speech had more substance on what the president has done, on how the economy is growing, on how he wants to conduct the Ukraine war, on how he wants to deal with the major issues, and then on what he wants to do than most other speeches. Yes, it was strong. Yes, Joe Biden showed himself fully in command and able to handle any of the Republican catcalls, the silly catcalls that they had. It lived up to all of the constitutional responsibilities.

Berman: [inaudible] On immigration calling on all members of congress to not fight about it, but to fix it. You're a realist. You know, what can and can't happen is there any chance - to get this bipartisan bill back on track?

Schumer: I hope so because as you know, I encouraged it, and I think it's a great bill. The Democrats have put together a bipartisan bill, we in the Senate, that generally had Republican support. And look who supported it, John, you know who - the fount of hard-right conservatism in America, the Wall Street Journal editorial page, did two or three editorials listing all the reasons this was a good bill. The Border Patrol Union, conservative, right-wing, pro-Republican, pro Trump, supported this bill. The Chamber of Commerce, the business community, supported this bill, because it's a bill that is strong and tough, and frankly I think we have a chance to get it because you know why? We're now on our front foot on immigration. We have said we will do something tough and strong that critics say will work. And what do the Republicans do? They first could say, oh yeah, this is a good, tough bill. Donald Trump comes out - he almost gave us a gift. He said, I don't want this to happen because I wanted to save it for the election next year, I want to see chaos at the border. Donald Trump and the Republican party who say the border is a crisis now say, let it hang out that way a year for political advantage. The American people aren't going to buy it –so we are going to keep pushing this issue and I think that we can succeed.

Berman: Let me ask you about Donald Trump here in a way. The Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell, is someone you have had a working relationship for years, and you have a personal relationship with. Senator McConnell, despite some serious differences with Donald Trump, just came out and endorsed his campaign for president. How do you feel about that?

Schumer: Look, I'm not going to second guess Leader McConnell. He has said a lot of things that Republicans had to hear, particularly on how Donald Trump didn't steal the election, how we had to make sure that the electoral process went forward at those dark days in January 6, when the insurrectionists, and I was glad Joe Biden made no mistake about it. Those were insurrectionists, not tourists. Mitch McConnell stood up for the right thing to do but, you know, I'm not going to agree with most things he does and I don't agree with that one.

Berman: Do you feel like he had to endorse Donald Trump? Couldn’t he have taken a stand?

Schumer: I'm not going to second guess Mitch, you so ask him.

Berman: All right. Senator Chuck Schumer from New York. Thanks so much for being with us this morning. Have a great weekend

Schumer: It’s a happy great morning.

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