2 hours ago
1
Chuck Todd ripped Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) after the senior Democrat refused to address whether he saw signs that Joe Biden was unfit for the presidency — telling the top lawmaker he is “as responsible as anybody else” for the Democrats’ 2024 White House loss.
The former host of NBC’s “Meet The Press,” who appeared on a CNN panel on Tuesday, reacted to Schumer’s refusal to answer questions from anchor Kasie Hunt about Biden’s condition before the then-president bowed out of the race.
During her CNN interview, Hunt pressed Schumer repeatedly on whether he had seen signs of Biden’s cognitive decline during a February 2024 meeting in the Oval Office — just months before the then-president bowed out of the race following his disastrous debate performance against President Trump.
“You sat next to Biden in the Oval Office… Did you really not have any idea that he was not fit to serve a second term?” Hunt asked.
Schumer refused to directly answer, instead pivoting to criticize the Republican-led reconciliation bill.
“Kasie, we’re looking forward,” he said, repeating the phrase multiple times as Hunt attempted to follow up.
“You’re facing all of this because you lost a presidential election. And is that not Joe Biden’s responsibility for deciding to run again?” Hunt pressed.
“We’re looking forward,” Schumer reiterated.
In response, Todd unloaded on Schumer, saying of the New York senator, “He is among the people that are responsible for this.”
Todd went on to blame “the leaders of the Democratic Party” and “the staff of the White House” for concealing Biden’s decline despite obvious signs.
Todd added that Democrats are unpopular because “party leadership let [the public] down and let this happen.”
“He’s as responsible as anybody else. He was a leader in the party. He could’ve said something sooner, and he didn’t,” Todd said of Schumer.
Last month, Todd rejected claims that the media failed to cover President Biden’s cognitive decline, calling the accusation a “right-wing-manufactured” narrative.
In an interview with Chris Cillizza, Todd said the media wasn’t to blame and instead pointed the finger at Democratic officials who, he argued, actively concealed the issue.
A new book by CNN anchor Jake Tapper and Axios reporter Alex Thompson details the lengths to which aides to Biden sought to cover up the extent of his age-related deterioration.
Biden’s state had declined to the point where he couldn’t remember the names of senior aides and even Hollywood actor George Clooney, Tapper and Thompson wrote in “Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again.”
Tapper and Thompson interviewed around 200 people, most of them senior Democratic officials, who felt free to speak following the election but were less forthcoming while Biden was in office.
Todd lashed out at those who spoke to the authors, saying: “I find everybody now talking to these authors — get outta here. Go home. You’re part of the problem. Now you tell us?”
The former “Meet the Press” moderator said that “the reason why the Democratic Party has less credibility today” and “has a worse rating than the Republican Party” is “because of this distrust.”
The Post has sought comment from Schumer.
English (US)