In the hours and days following President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the 2024 election, there have been some consistent narratives about who did what and who got put on the Biden family’s sh-tlist. Nancy Pelosi is absolutely sh-tlisted by Bidenistas, as are several other elected Democrats. In Politico’s “definitive” narrative of what happened in and around Biden’s decision, sources said that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer was absolutely part of the group trying to convince Biden to end his reelection bid, but there was less bad energy around Schumer’s conversations with Biden. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries – House minority leader – was also included in some of the conversations last week, but as late as last Friday, Rep. Jeffries was publicly backing Biden as the nominee. I truly have seen nothing that would indicate that anyone should have any smoke for Jeffries.
NBC News had a follow-up on what Sen. Schumer was doing throughout the past month, especially given the sensitive personal friendship he has with Biden. Schumer’s tactic was to not publicly bad-mouth Biden or apply pressure publicly, but he also wanted senators to feel like they could share their concerns with him and with the White House. Which I think is fair, although Schumer probably could have done more to keep his Democratic caucus buttoned up, instead of leaking all of their internal party drama to the nearest Axios reporter. Per NBC, “Schumer wanted Democrats to present as a united front and handle their woes as a family discussion.” Which is how every Democrat should have handled it. NBC also says that Schumer traveled up to Delaware last week and he and President Biden had a one-on-one conversation about everything, and Schumer told Biden to really think about things over the next week. Sources close to Schumer insist that the two men embraced at the end of the discussion. Schumer, it seems, wants to ensure that he isn’t seen as a turncoat.
Well, a day after Nancy Pelosi abruptly endorsed Kamala Harris for president, both Sen. Schumer and Rep. Jeffries have followed suit. They waited until VP Harris had gotten the delegates she needed to be the presumptive nominee, and according to both men, VP Harris asked them to wait on the endorsement until she had more “grassroots” support:
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries and Sen. Chuck Schumer, the top Democrats in Congress, endorsed Kamala Harris for president on Tuesday. Schumer and Jeffries, both of New York, made the announcement at a press conference, where both emphasized the excitement throughout their Democratic conferences for Harris’ candidacy. “We are brimming with excitement, enthusiasm, unity,” Schumer said to reporters.
Jeffries echoed that sentiment, adding that Harris “is ready, willing and able to lead us into the future.”
While many elected Democrats, including President Joe Biden, quickly announced their support for Harris, the Senate Majority leader and House Minority leader had said they wanted to meet with her in person first. That meeting has not yet happened, sources close to the leaders told NBC News. But both Jefferies and Schumer have spoken to Harris by phone.
“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. We deeply respected that, Hakeem and I did,” Schumer said.
“Now that the process has played out from the grassroots, bottom-up, we are here today to throw our support behind Vice President Kamala Harris,” he said.
Sure. I’m glad they’ve endorsed her and I buy that VP Harris said that to Chuck Schumer on Sunday. I wonder if she had any idea that the party was going to get behind her so quickly, and I wonder what President Biden was saying to various allies behind the scenes. Within 24 hours, Harris had the endorsement of nearly every Democratic governor, several of the biggest unions, the Clintons and a slew of congressmen and senators. Anyway, I’m not feeling a lot of drama from the Biden-Harris camp on Jeffries and Schumer, so it’s all good.
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.
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- United States President Joe Biden and US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (Democrat of New York) respond to questions from the news media following a meeting with Senate Democrats for a policy luncheon at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, USA 02 March 2023. Featuring: President Joe Biden, Leader Chuck Schumer Where: Washington, District of Columbia, United States When: 02 Mar 2023 Credit: Shawn Thew/CNP/startraksphoto.com/Cover Images
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- United States Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (Democrat of New York) and United States House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (Democrat of New York) speak to the media after meeting with United States President Joe Biden on the debt limit at the White House in Washington, DC. Featuring: Senator Chuck Schumer and Representative Leader Hakeem Jeffries Where: Washington, District of Columbia, United States When: 16 May 2023 Credit: POOL via CNP/startraksphoto.com
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- United States Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (Democrat of New York) and United States House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (Democrat of New York) speak to the media after meeting with United States President Joe Biden on the debt limit at the White House in Washington, DC. Featuring: Senator Chuck Schumer and Representative Leader Hakeem Jeffries Where: Washington, District of Columbia, United States When: 16 May 2023 Credit: POOL via CNP/startraksphoto.com
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- United States Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (Democrat of New York) speaks to reporters outside the White House in Washington, DC after attending an event highlighting the Biden Administration’s commitment to advancing the safe, secure, and trustworthy development and use of Artificial Intelligence at the White House. Featuring: Chuck Schumer Where: Washington, District of Columbia, United States When: 30 Oct 2023 Credit: Chris Kleponis/CNP/startraksphoto.com
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- United States Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (Democrat of New York) holds a press conference following a vote on Right to IVF Act in the US Capitol. Featuring: United States Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (Democrat of New York) Where: Washington, District of Columbia, United States When: 13 Jun 2024 Credit: CNP/INSTARimages
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- Celebrities and VIPs at 2024 NY Gay Pride March Featuring: Senator Chuck Schumer Where: New York, New York, United States When: 30 Jun 2024 Credit: Janet Mayer/INSTARimages.com
It was great to see their support.
Hillary Clinton’s op-ed yesterday in the New York Times was simply amazing regarding Kamala’s run for POTUS as a woman and her support of Kamala and things Hillary experienced as a female candidate, especially running against Trump. I admire her so much. I urge everyone to read it.
Can I propose Jon Osoff for Senate leadership? I want to see the backside of Chuck Schumer. One of his daughters works for Amazon and the other for Meta. I wonder if that speaks to his delay in supporting Kamala.
I second this! Ossoff is awesome.
I genuinely enjoy watching Jon Osoff dismantle his opponents, in a calm, measured, yet ruthlessly intelligent way. He is definitely a star on the rise. I won’t be surprised if he ends up somewhere in President Harris’ cabinet.
I love Hakeem. I can see him as a viral part of Kamala’s presidency.
He’s great. I love the way he talks and moves his hands with his talking points, his speeches always have a punchy cadence like he’s at a poetry slam, lolz.
I have always assumed that the party has Jeffries as a key figure in succession planning and hope he’s already pushing for the transition of the old brigade to younger, more dynamic folks in the party that will be better able to lead and communicate more effectively in the current political climate.
Handling it as a family behind closed doors is exactly what should have happened instead of everyone and their staff running to WaPo or whatever to talk about how the biden campaign had already lost.
But that said, i’m glad we are here now because I think this energy is incredible and I’m glad people like Schumer and Jeffries gave a joint public endorsement.
Its clear the Rs did not see this coming – the Trump campaign is scrambling because they thought the Dems would be in disarray if Biden dropped out. And we might have been had Biden and other leaders not thrown their support so immediately behind Harris.
Handling it behind close doors would have been ideal, however it’s practically impossible for a group of people that large to keep a secret.
Plus Biden looks like he might have been a bit stubborn throughout all of this (e.g. saying he would only go if God told him so). I doubt he would have gone had he not been under some public pressure. And then we’d be waiting for President Trump in January instead of President Harris.
I agree that handling it behind closed doors would have been ideal. Yet there was an urgency to get matter settled. At the end of the day, PJB can hold his head high for doing the right thing. And the Dems can unite to bring down Trump. I say we stop focusing on what happened and focus on winning the election. I don’t believe PJB would have won. I am hopeful that VP Harris can win. Hope springs eternal.
Dana,
Totally agree, my strong impression was that Biden was being a bit stubborn about stepping down, and there’s been talk that his aides were sheltering him from his polling numbers, so I’m sure that contributed to Biden’s possible reticence. I also am of the opinion that no one, not even Biden, had thought about who could replace him, particularly because he faced virtually zero competition in the primaries. Quite simply, I believe no one had any idea who could, who should, and who wanted to run in his place. And I think that also contributed to his reluctance to step down.
I also believe that Harris as a viable replacement was an 11th hour realization on everyone’s part, including Biden, and including those who previously thought she was not viable. I believe this partially due to AOC’s statements last week.
And I have to admit that I’m a bit uncomfortable with the narrative that Nancy Pelosi was the bad guy in all this. It could very well have been that Biden was being stubborn, perhaps unable to come to a decision, and with so so little time left before election day, quite simply, someone had to get firm with Biden. I recall the article header from the other stating that Pelosi told Biden they could do this the easy way or the hard way. But upon closer inspection, the article that line was pulled from, did not present it as a quote from Pelosi, but rather the way someone close to the situation chose to characterize the essence of her conversation with Biden. And i think that presenting it as a quote, was misleading, and unnecessarily villified Pelosi, a villification that is clear and present in numerous subsequent articles here. For example, the quickness with which Pelosi fell in line and endorsed Harris is portrayed as a bad thing. But how is that possibly a bad thing?
Additionally, the above information about Schumer’s trip to Delaware to have a heart to heart with Biden is further evidence that there was no “coup”, and that Biden was not in fact stabbed in the back, a narrative that I personally believe is dangerous, damaging, and not based on any factual information that I’ve seen. It seems to be narrative born out of emotion and loyalty towards Biden, and despair that he is no longer running. But not facts.
This is Washington. Handling it behind closed doors is not how it happens.
They TRIED it behind closed doors. It was necessary for Biden to drop out but he was unwilling/unable to recognize that reality. Sometimes the family tries to handle it privately but grandpa still refuses to give up the keys. Then you have to go outside the family and bring in the doctors or the DMV. It’s obviously more embarrassing to have your license taken away than to give it up, but a lot of seniors make it unavoidable.
Well said. I agree entirely.
RNOT,
I completely agree, and I think that one of the problems was that Biden’s aides were sheltering him from his dismal polling numbers, exacerbating the denial of the situation that seemed very apparent, on Biden’s part.
I don’t quite understand the need to make certain people into villians in all this. Even if some people were uncertain about Harris’s viability, or maybe even specifically didn’t want her as Biden’s replacement, it certainly seems that they changed their tune very quickly and got behind her. It’s like, what else do you want from them?
Up to now, Trump has always been the one who has been able to pivot. Felon. Racist. Old. Rambling speech. JD Vance. Elon backtracking on donation amounts. 900 pages of Project 2025… and suddenly having a different political opponent who is raking in support and money…
These endorsements are great, but they’re just emphasizing what’s going on as opposed to causing people’s support. Great to see this! Anyone who still needs to publicly support VP Harris—we know that come November, we’ll all be voting the same way!
Maybe that was his price for dropping out, and Biden held out until they all agreed to back Kamala if he did. He’s smart enough to know that without immediate rallying around a strong nominee, the whole thing would devolve into chaos and loss was certain. Knowing everyone’s backing would go to her made dropping out the best move.
I agree @Jenny. I was so angry that in all of the fantasy football,not one was talking about Kamala, and Joe did us right (again)!
Speaking of endorsements, Nikki Haley first ran against and warned the world about Trump. There are people who voted for her, but unlike Haley who just spoke at the RNC and kissed Trump’s ring, a group of her supporters is backing VP Harris. In fact, they call themselves Haley Voters for Harris, and Nikki Haley is not a fan: https://www.npr.org/2024/07/23/g-s1-12998/haley-voters-for-harris-cease-desist-2024-election
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The joy I feel knowing that Nimarata is sick with jealousy, rage and envy over her delegates putting their support behind Future POTUS Harris is beyond description. That woman has been jealous of Kamala and can’t keep her name out of her mouth. My she struggle in misery forever.
Amen to that!
I am disgusted by her and glad that group told her to pound sand. What a POS she is.
Eh to Schumer and Jeffries. We need new blood.
People keep messaging Schumer to step down cause he’s old, same with Pelosi.
And all of this mess showed that Pelosi is still in charge of the House, so if I was Jeffries I would start showing I am the House leader before he gets pushed out if the Dems take the House. AOC and Jasmine Crockett were doing better with messaging then him.
Walking the walk,
I totally agree about Schumer and I’d add Pelosi to that. They do not mesh with the more progressive, younger Democrats, and I’ve about had it up to here with these moderate Democrats who think that progress is made by playing nice with the Republicans, when in reality, progress is made by radical change, and only the younger progressives seem empowered to enact radical change
I’m so glad Hillary wrote that, hopefully it will put paid to the inevitable “Hillary is jealous!” pitting women against women the media does.
Chuck’s has always been kinda of an ass. I remember him gloating about New York getting a retired space shuttle over Houston.
Oh my gosh the video of their endorsements was simultaneously so sweet and absolutely electrifying. I have never seen Chuck Schumer look like that — like a grandpa seeing his grandbaby for the first time. And Rep. Jeffries’s series of remarks thanking and praising Biden as a hero, a patriot who concluded his campaign with grace and love for his country, were so important and poignant. The feel-good movie of the year??
Oh I hope she wins