Senator and amateur grilling enthusiast Chuck Schumer received a less-than-enthusiastic response when he asked a crowd to applaud the ascension of Vice President Kamala Harris to the Democratic Party’s primary presidential ticket position.
Schumer was joined Tuesday by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, announcing their endorsements of Harris in a joint press conference.
The two former holdouts are the top Democrats in the House and Senate, giving the vice president even more legitimacy in the 2024 elections.
Judging by the response from Schumer’s crowd, it’s not legitimacy that Harris needs, but enthusiasm.
“Today, in Wisconsin and across America we begin our next chapter, and it will be out best yet,” Schumer said. “Vice President Harris will beat Donald Trump and become the next president of the United States of America.”
Despite Schumer’s enthusiasm, he got no response to his passionate appeal for Harris.
He soon asked: “Applause?”
The crowd’s brutal response was total silence.
Jeffries’ own endorsement, despite being just as enthusiastic as his congressional colleague’s, also failed to win over anything but silence from those gathered.
Will Kamala Harris improve Democrats’ chances over Donald Trump?
“I’m proud to strongly endorse Kamala Harris to be the 47th President of the United States of America,” Jeffries said.
“We’re going to hold the Senate. We’re going to win the House. We’re going to elect Kamala Harris as our next president in November.”
The lawmakers’ full comments can be seen in the video below.
Even with the support of Jeffries and Schumer, Kamala Harris’ success is nowhere near a guarantee.
Initial polling for the vice president’s presidential campaign found that a matchup between Harris and former President Donald Trump would see him leading the woman who would be the first female president by a whopping 9 percentage points.
If it’s a media boost the campaign is hoping for, it might need to begin looking elsewhere for outspoken support.
The mainstream media may be aligning behind Harris, but it’s clear Democrats will not have an audience of clapping seals handed to them.
