Washington — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Sunday that former President Donald Trump’s decision to select Sen. JD Vance as his running mate may be “one of the best things he ever did for Democrats.”
“Vance seems to be more erratic and more extreme than President Trump, and I’ll bet President Trump is sitting there scratching his head and wondering, ‘why did I pick this guy?'” Schumer said on “Face the Nation” Sunday.
The New York Democrat, who works with Vance in the Senate, called the addition of Vance to the ticket an “incredibly bad choice” for Republicans, suggesting that Trump may consider changing his mind in the coming days.
“He has a choice — does he keep Vance on the ticket?” Schumer said, suggesting that doing so could weigh down the ticket with Vance’s “baggage.” “Or does he pick someone new? It’s his choice.”
The comments come as Democrats have seized on new revelations and resurfaced comments from Vance, the 39-year-old junior senator from Ohio, since his profile was raised when he joined the Republican ticket earlier this month.
Schumer lambasted the Trump-Vance ticket more broadly, calling it “extreme” while warning that their administration would take rights away from women and working people and be “a threat to our democracy.” He contrasted the ticket with his party’s leaders in the White House, touting the “incredible record” of the Biden-Harris administration as Vice President Kamala Harris prepares to take up the mantle as the presumptive nominee after President Biden withdrew from the race a week ago.
The leader met with Mr. Biden in Delaware on July 13 amid intense pressure from some Democrats in Congress for the president to step aside.
Schumer said Sunday that he wouldn’t get into the specifics of the meeting, but he said that Mr. Biden “will walk away from the presidency with his head held high because of all the great things he’s done.”
“And because he put America first — he always as,” Schumer added.
Schumer endorsed Harris’ presidential bid on Tuesday, making clear he had held off in the immediate aftermath of Mr. Biden’s announcement so it didn’t appear like a coronation.
“When I spoke with her Sunday, she said she wanted the opportunity to win the nomination on her own, and to do so from the grassroots up, not top down,” Schumer said at a news conference, adding that Harris “has done a truly impressive job securing the majority of delegates needed to win the Democratic Party’s nomination.”