Chuck Schumer flatly denied that Democratic Party leadership hid Joe Biden away from voters during the president’s abandoned 2024 campaign.
In a Sunday visit to NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Schumer was confronted with his own words about President Biden’s health from February. He called the line that a then-81-year-old president was in decline a bit of “right-wing propaganda.”
“His mental acuity is great,” he said in the clip. “It’s as good as it’s been over the years.”
That defense came mere months before Biden’s disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump, a showing so poor that it eventually led to Biden dropping out of the 2024 election. Even with those facts in hand, Schumer was defiant that Democrats did not willingly mislead voters about Biden’s health.
Host Kristen Welker asked Schumer to defend himself to voters who believed they’d been duped.
“Look, we didn’t,” he said flatly before quickly changing the subject to the record of the Biden administration. “He’s had an amazing record. The legislation we passed, one of the most significant groups of legislation since the New Deal.”
Schumer called Biden a “patriot” and a “great guy” before pushing back against the widely held belief that Biden was pushed out due to public perception of his fitness.
“When he stepped down, he did it on his own because he thought it was better, not only for the Democratic Party, for America,” Schumer said. “We should all salute him.”
Welker pressed the issue one more time, asking bluntly if Schumer thinks Biden could have served for another four years. Having already used his strongest dodge, Schumer declined to answer.
“I’m not going to speculate,” Schumer said.
Watch below via NBC:
