Sunny Hostin was blunt with Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) during his appearance on “The View” Tuesday morning.
The New York senator has recently come under fire after he and nine other Senate Democrats appeared willing to give up any leverage against Republican efforts to demolish federal agencies and cut government spending without congressional approval.
The backlash against Schumer’s actions prompted him to postpone a book tour on Monday due to “security concerns,” but he appeared on “The View” on Tuesday anyway, possibly hoping for a sympathetic panel.
However, Hostin did not get the memo. Despite referring to Schumer as a “friend,” she expressed disappointment with his recent actions.
“I believe you and nine other Democrats caved. I do not think you demonstrated the fight this party requires right now because you are playing by a rule book that the other party has thrown away,” Hostin stated.
“So, in my opinion, by supporting that GOP partisan bill that Democrats had no input in, you paved the way for Donald Trump and Elon Musk to gut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Why did you convince Democratic senators to follow the rules that Republicans do not follow?”
Schumer agreed with Hostin that his GOP counterparts are not following the “rules,” but insisted he is ready for the fight.
“OK, first I would say, Sunny, no one wants to fight more than me and no one fights more than me,” he told me.
Schumer argued that the bill he signed, which he “hated,” “does far less damage” to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid than would have occurred otherwise.
He stated that the “bad” bill he voted for contained “many fewer cuts than there would be in a shutdown,” and that he had to choose between “bad” and “devastating.”
“One chops off one of your fingers; the other chops off your arm. So I want to fight, and we do every day,” he explained. “Today, we are fighting them over Medicaid. Tomorrow, we will fight them over tariffs for the next few days. We are going to fight them over Social Security, but I want to win and fight smartly.”
