CNN political commentator Van Jones weighed in on the “volcanic anger” Democrats have with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) after he voted to advance the GOP-backed spending bill, emphasizing the party needs some “alpha energy” and has to push back harder on the changes being executed by the current administration.
“We want some alpha energy. And that’s not what we’re seeing. This party is tired of watching Donald Trump and Elon Musk run over this party, run over this country, run over the Constitution,” Jones said during his Friday night appearance on CNN.
“And if you only have one opportunity to take a stand, and you don’t take it, it’s very difficult,” the former adviser to President Obama added.
Jones reacted to a clip from radio host Charlamagne tha God, who earlier on Friday called on both Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) to step aside.
“Dems don’t just have a messaging problem. They got a leadership problem,” the radio host said. “The Chuck Schumers of the world, the Hakeem Jeffries’s, they should all step down.”
Capitol Hill Democrats, who are still in disarray following their 2024 presidential election loss, have expressed anger toward Schumer, who on Thursday announced he would vote to advance the Republican-crafted continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government through September. He was one of the 10 Democrats to vote to push ahead the GOP-backed legislation on Friday.
Later that day, the legislation passed with a 54-46 vote. Only Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Angus King (I-Maine), who caucuses with Democrats, backed the measure in the final floor vote. President Trump is expected to sign the legislation.
Schumer received heavy pushback from Democrats in the House, including fellow New York Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
“There is a deep sense of outrage and betrayal,” she said. “And this is not just about progressive Democrats, This is across the board — the entire party.”
Jones said on Friday that if a hypothetical Senate primary between Schumer and Ocasio-Cortez took place now, the Democrats’ longtime leader would lose his seat to the progressive lawmaker.
“But if we want somebody who’s going to stand up to this bully, stand up this bully, do something, and if you shut the government down, and it gets a little bit crazy, in the least, some positives about the rationality, there’s an emotional need to stop Donald Trump and Elon Musk running over this party,” Jones said.
“And I think Chuck Schumer has radically misread the room,” he added.
