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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSen Schumer on response to Trump's shakedown of Harvard: "We sent him a very strong letter..."
@atrupar.com
Schumer on the Democratic response to Trump's shakedown of Harvard: "We sent him a very strong letter just the other day asking eight very strong questions."
April 27, 2025 at 9:30 AM
"...a very strong letter." Oy vey.

https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3lnsedlbexj23

Ocelot II
(124,370 posts)Why didn't anybody think of that sooner?
mitch96
(15,135 posts)meadowlander
(4,895 posts)The problem is that the American people elected a dangerous moron and then went and gave his lap dog party the Senate and the House. Until 2026, other than write letters and make public statements, what do you expect Chuck Shumer to do? And we all know he's not great with the public statements.
Attilatheblond
(5,705 posts)They showed actual leadership and we got to witness may brave people sharing many brave efforts. That sort of thing inspires public actions, collaborations, and courage.
Schumer can take his strongly worded message directly to Trump and see how much positive energy/effort that raises. What Booker, Jeffries, and all those who came to speak did will inspire people and one suspects will motivate more calls to people's reps than Schumer and his letters. Raising enough voices beats letters Trump will laugh at and toss in the trash.
Ponietz
(3,554 posts)Vinca
(51,956 posts)republianmushroom
(19,598 posts)choie
(5,368 posts)Can't wait to vote him out.
yardwork
(66,341 posts)et tu
(2,157 posts)dems will have a whole encyclopedia of 'harsh letters'
and that will surely do it.
step up and do something meaningful- this is past the time.
dhogg is trying to take corrective steps and is being torched
by the old guard. step up or step out of the way- this is much
to important to our democracy.
dalton99a
(88,308 posts)CrispyQ
(39,529 posts)This is why there's that other thread with a poll where more people would trust Trump with the economy than congressional dems. Where the fuck is our unified voice of outrage against this administration? We have Chris, Bernie & AOC, Jamie Raskin, & there are others who don't come to mind at the moment, but there isn't one unified democratic voice of outrage. It's bad enough congressional dems don't seem to have the power to do anything but to remain silent as a party? I'm not surprised at that polling result.
That other DU thread: https://democraticunderground.com/100220273050
Passages
(2,666 posts)BoRaGard
(5,133 posts)to express 'concerns.
Ponietz
(3,554 posts)David__77
(24,033 posts)I think he is interested in providing him with criticism aimed at biding time while managing Trump.
yardwork
(66,341 posts)The Democratic leaders seem to think that Trump's messes will make it easy to regain a Democratic majority.
I think they're wrong.
I think they're badly misjudging how serious this attack on our democracy is. I also think they're badly misjudging how easy it will be for the RNC to blame everything on Democrats.
I think that Schumer and the others are stuck in the 1970s.
orleans
(35,934 posts)moniss
(7,131 posts)no further quorums.
lapucelle
(20,101 posts)A quorum in the Senate is a simple majority.
Republicans don't need Democrats (and can even lose two of their own members) for a quorum to be present.
Kid Berwyn
(20,100 posts)Stern phone message? Strongly worded text? A long Email!? Thatll scare the traitor straight.
Chemical Bill
(2,754 posts)Will he hold his breath until he turns blue? We will see ....
doc03
(37,744 posts)really hurt. When I hear Schumer I think David Hogg isn't entirely wrong.
jalan48
(14,852 posts)I think we have a problem.
Ponietz
(3,554 posts)Ping Tung
(2,203 posts)Ars Longa
(143 posts)Leader Bob Dole.
Baitball Blogger
(49,870 posts)Someone please clue him in. This is getting embarrassing.
flvegan
(64,919 posts)Celerity
(49,493 posts)
magicarpet
(18,088 posts).... since she has been back burnered,... Schumer has no balls anymore,.. not that he ever had fire in the belly anyways.
Is Dem party leaders do not improve the Dem congress likeability above 35% soon,.. their prospects for 2025 mid-terms do not look so good.
harumph
(2,670 posts)However, you can guess.
LuvLoogie
(7,982 posts)We're so fucked.
hatrack
(62,277 posts)And there's not much more to say, unfortunately.
C_U_L8R
(47,175 posts)That's what we need. Said no one.
WSHazel
(347 posts)Democratic Senators don't like a strong Senate Leader. It has been this way for a long time. Daschle and Schumer are both weak leaders, and Reid stayed out of other Senator's activities. If people want a party with strong centralized leadership, they should vote Trumpublican.
Democrats also do not want a Senate leader that is a lightening rod right now. Democrats are defending some tough seats, but also have getable seats in NC and ME in 2026. That means they only need to find 2 more. Rust belt and farm belt will be in some serious economic pain, and there are a lot of Republican Senators that rubber-stamped bad Trump policies that will cause a lot of pain in the Midwest.
I see the most likely targets as:
1) KS - this state is not nearly as dark red as it was before, and Marshall is a weak candidate.
2) TX - the Texas Latino vote has been trending against Democrats for 3 straight Presidential elections, but that could stop with the chaos that Trump has unleashed.
3) AK - Getting hammered by government spending cuts and tariffs. Sullivan only got 54% in 2020.
4) IA - Ernst did not win big in 2020, and Iowa is going to get smashed economically by tariffs because of its dependence on agriculture and manufacturing.
5) OH - Will get hit hard by tariffs, and by the crackdown on immigration. Ohio depends on immigrant labor for his manufacturing industry. Furthermore, Ohio has a lot of colleges that were increasingly dependent on international students as the demographic cliff hits higher education. Ohio could see a crisis with some of its universities if foreign students drop as much as anticipated.
Democrats will lose all of those states if they have a firebrand Senate Leader. Let Cory Booker, Chris Murphy and Bernie Sanders do their thing, while Schumer remains as a less interesting target for Republicans.
Paladin
(30,269 posts)Might as well be consistent in terms of your effectiveness.
Faux pas
(15,636 posts)like the hump will read it?
Sky Jewels
(9,124 posts)Scrivener7
(55,502 posts)taxi
(2,166 posts)Why couldn't he have penned that letter before the 2024 campaigns?
Republicans and their leaders will be quick stepping off of sidewalks to get out of his way. Now they know he means business!
And if he really wants to be helpful, if he wants the maga base to know also, his next message will be in ALL CAPS!
Good going Senator!
Arazi
(7,735 posts)And/or replaced by representatives who are willing to actually take action
LudwigPastorius
(12,286 posts)everyone calling for ACTION here should offer a specific suggestion.
...because Schumer can't arrest, impeach, or investigate Trump...he cannot call hearings, mark-up bills, or issue subpoenas with the Republicans in charge of both houses of Congress.
The best they (we) can do is gum up the legislative works.
Arazi
(7,735 posts)Or holding a press conference with the Harvard attorneys who are pushing back.
Or participate in organizing a united national level university resistance movement, connecting the organizations together.
I put about 3 seconds of effort into brainstorming a few direct actions he could take instead of a strong letter (and come on, even you cant think this is at all an effective leadership action)
LudwigPastorius
(12,286 posts)Schumer got more eyes on him by appearing on CNN this morning than a press conference would have accrued.
And, I applaud Corey Booker and Hakeem Jeffries, but their sit in can't match cable news viewership.
Arazi
(7,735 posts)I provided a few with a couple seconds of thought. Im sure as one of the most powerful Dems in the land he has resources to draw upon to help craft strategies. The tv appearance is fine but its not enough to say I sent a strongly worded letter
Sorry but its not.
Attilatheblond
(5,705 posts)And you can bet that more people watched after the live feed ended. More will watch the video as they hear about it. Social media/online videos probably get nearly as many eyeballs as MSM these days, if not more in the long run. Consider the ways in which campaign fundraising has changed. Running ads on TV doesn't match Act Blue donations to candidates, or trump would be trying to turn off broadcasts like he is trying to attack Act Blue.
Scrivener7
(55,502 posts)https://www.democraticunderground.com/100220104953
However, why do some people always insist that we can't expect them to do their jobs unless we tell them exactly how? Why don't they already know how to do their jobs without us telling them?
This is a crisis. Are people getting that?
tavernier
(13,648 posts)


Im feeling faint.

Maybe he went a little too far.


orleans
(35,934 posts)Martin68
(25,563 posts)Greg_In_SF
(204 posts)A piece of paper with words on it! Take that Trump!!
bdamomma
(68,097 posts)did the felon "fix the problem" during Covid pandemic????? NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He's not going to do crap for the American people.
Ruby the Liberal
(26,422 posts)He is the absolute worst possible choice for that role today - but his ego is blinding him to that fact.
Him remaining at the helm = we are so fucked.
Scrivener7
(55,502 posts)SunImp
(2,473 posts)Same types who probably defended Manchin or even people like Adams/Cuellar.
senseandsensibility
(21,759 posts)but her comment about getting back to her if he gets a response was very dryly put.
mucholderthandirt
(1,461 posts)Bread and Circuses
(715 posts).
This is a comment regarding an unnamed party
When the orange person won the nomination , I went full speed to alert everyone. I volunteered, donated, wrote letters and made phone calls for the woman candidate and others who support equality and the rule of law.
I knew how bad he would be as #47. I knew, and Im not a political or legal expert.
The entire Unnamed political Party, except a few, are in lala land. . Why wasnt their was a plan once he was elected ? A plan to stop the coup? A plan to call out the lies and liars?
Ive said that we may loose our nation by summer, and Im right. Its happening now.
A judge has been arrested, US citizens grabbed and deported, collaborating with Russian agents, stealing personal data and destroying the federal government.
We dont know even 1% of what has happened.
The elected good guys are spineless.
The real Good Guys are the men and women in the streets, exercising our 1st amendment rights. Until the elected unnamed party members call for a general strike and arrest of the entire administration for treason, I dont want to hear from them.
Again, this is not bashing .
regnaD kciN
(26,990 posts)SSJVegeta
(429 posts)Not for the democrats and not for his state.
fujiyamasan
(56 posts)Well thatll show em!
Yo Chuck, the institution isnt hosting a gentlemans game anymore. I think its time you rethink your day job!
His leadership is no longer tenable. He needs to step down from his role and let the caucus vote on a new leader. As long as hes leader I think it will put a damper on recruiting effective candidates and fundraising because Im not sure why anyone would want him leading them in any way.
sakabatou
(44,638 posts)mahatmakanejeeves
(64,455 posts)@mmasnick.bsky.social
It will be a minor note in the history of all this but the utter inability of Schumer to understand what's happening and to respond appropriately is historically bad in its own way
Aaron Rupar
@atrupar.com
· 16h
Schumer on the Democratic response to Trump's shakedown of Harvard: "We sent him a very strong letter just the other day asking eight very strong questions."
https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3lnsedlbexj23
April 27, 2025 at 12:09 PM
https://bsky.app/profile/mmasnick.bsky.social/post/3lnsn7lpdq22u
Buns_of_Fire
(18,380 posts)



