Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is reportedly pointing fingers at others for the Democratic Party’s underperformance in the 2020 election.
In a recent call with donors, the New York Democrat admitted his party’s best chances of reclaiming a majority in the upper chamber of Congress were squashed, according to Axios. He blamed failed North Carolina Senate candidate Cal Cunningham’s extramarital affair and Maine Sen. Susan Collins’s opposition to filling the Supreme Court vacancy left by the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Schumer apparently boiled down Cunningham’s loss in North Carolina to the fact he “couldn’t keep his zipper up.” He allegedly made the zipper comments on multiple calls with donors.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Schumer’s office for comment but did not immediately hear back.
Republicans currently hold a slight majority in the upper chamber of Congress, but special elections in Georgia leave the future party’s majority uncertain. Democrats are hoping for a victory in Georgia to secure 48 seats for their party in the Senate. Along with liberal independent Sens. Bernie Sanders and Angus King, a victory in the Georgia Senate runoffs would give Democrats leverage to force Republicans to compromise on policy.
On the call, Schumer reportedly regretted the fact he couldn’t encourage failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams to run for a Senate position, and he lamented successfully convincing Cunningham.
The senator allegedly explained to donors that he believed Collins won reelection in Maine because of her opposition to Amy Coney Barrett replacing Ginsburg, who died earlier this year. Barrett was confirmed as an associate justice to the Supreme Court with 52 Republican votes in late October. However, in 2018, Collins cast a critical swing vote in favor of confirming Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.
