GOP senator: Schumer 'about as popular as chlamydia' among Democrats

Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) applauded Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) for voting in favor of the GOP-authored continuing resolution (CR) while noting the sharp division it drove between the longtime Democrat and his party members.

“Many Democrats are angry at Schumer. Among them right now, we’ve all seen the news, he’s about as popular as chlamydia,” Kennedy said during a Thursday appearance on the Fox News show “Hannity.”

House Democrats were outraged over Schumer’s decision to support the CR, prompting calls for the New Yorker to resign over the controversy. 

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Md.) slammed the minority leader publicly for his choice, despite the fact that he was joined by nine other Democrats who voted to pass the bill, which included cuts to health care. 

“I respect Chuck Schumer. I think he had a great, long-standing career,” Ivey told constituents at a forum in his district. “But I’m afraid it may be time for Senate Democrats to choose a new leader.”

Nonetheless, Schumer has maintained that he is the “best leader” for the job. 

His colleague, Kennedy, poked fun at the minority leader for his history in the upper chamber while noting a string of past mistakes. 

“I don’t hate anybody, that includes Senator Schumer. He’s very smart. On the other hand, Chuck’s often wrong. He never makes the same mistake twice. He makes it five or six times just to be sure,” Kennedy said. 

“But this time he got it right in supporting our efforts to keep government open,” he added. 

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) said fear of a looming shutdown was one of the reasons why he voted for the CR, arguing no one would win in a government shutdown period. Kennedy echoed the same concerns in his conversation with host Sean Hannity.

“Unless a football coach taught you history, you understand that shutting government down never achieves anything. It just scares people, especially the elderly,” he said.