With the upcoming November midterm elections, many have speculated that the Democrats will lose their majority in the House. This opinion has recently been supported by Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer when he was overheard privately telling a group of Democratic Senators that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is “in trouble.”
Schumer was overhead making these comments at a Monday night dinner at Trattoria Alberto, a popular Italian restaurant in Washington, D.C., where lawmakers often dine, Punchbowl News reported.
“During the dinner, Schumer let loose on a whole range of topics. Schumer spoke loudly, and his remarks were overheard by other patrons in the restaurant — and confirmed by multiple sources,” Punchbowl reported.
The other Democratic senators who were at dinner with Schumer when he made these comments were Delaware’s Chris Coons and Tom Carper, Arizona’s Mark Kelly, Maryland’s Chris Van Hollen, Colorado’s John Hickenlooper and Illinois’ Dick Durbin.
Aside from just saying that Pelosi was “in trouble” since Republicans seem to have a good chance of winning back the House, Schumer was also overheard saying that there was “a 60 percent chance we hold the Senate and a 40 percent chance we hold the House,” if the midterm election was happening at the moment, Punchbowl reported.
Schumer’s doubts about the Democratic majority in the House are a stark contrast to Pelosi’s own comments on Tuesday, in which she indicated a belief that Democrats will actually add to their House majority.
When Punchbowl News asked Pelosi if Democrats would win House seats in the midterms she said, “Yes, indeed.”
Pelosi then added to her comment by saying, “I was just in 12 cities in 12 days. We’re ready. And understand this. Because of the leadership of [DCCC Chair Sean Patrick Maloney], we’re ready.”
“So when the Dobbs decision came down, it wasn’t one of those ‘If only we had known.’ No. We believed we were going to win from Jan. 6 on — well, even November of last year on,” Pelosi said.
Is Chuck Schumer right about Nancy Pelosi being in trouble?
“So we’re ready. Mobilizing on the ground … messaging, raising the money. But the biggest factor of all is not only do we believe, the candidates believe. So for a year, 10 months, eight months, terrific people had put themselves out there believing they could win in those districts,” she added.
But Schumer’s comments at his Monday night dinner did not sound as confident as Pelosi’s speculation that Democrats will keep control of the House.
Punchbowl also reported on Schumer’s various other comments overheard at the dinner, regarding upcoming elections, as well as the current political landscape.
In regards to elections and political offices, the Schumer allegedly said that he believes former President Donald Trump will run again in 2024; Kevin McCarthy, the current House Minority Leader, “sucks up” to Trump; Democrats don’t look likely to win the Iowa Senate race; and Arizona’s Senate race will get more closely contested if Peter Thiel, a tech billionaire, decides to start pouring money into boosting Republican candidate Blake Masters.
On more current issues not directly related to the elections, Schumer also reportedly criticized Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia for saying that taxation was like “inflation” for wealthy Americans. Punchbowl reported that Schumer called that “ridiculous.”
Schumer also reportedly blamed former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo for Democrats’ failure to gain more House seats during the redistricting in New York.
Though the overheard discussion reportedly covered a broad range of topics, it seemed to come at a crucial time in light of Pelosi’s comments and the status of congressional races throughout the country.
Fox News reported that the day after the dinner, Schumer put millions of his own funding towards other Democratic Senate campaigns.
“The dinner came one day before revelations that Schumer was putting $15 million of his own campaign funds toward Senate races for fellow Democrats across the country,” Fox News reported.
However, Schumer’s office has not officially commented on any of the Senate Majority Leader’s overheard discussions on Monday.
