Liberal pundit Van Jones labeled Chuck Schumer “foolish” and compared him to Pinocchio for defending Joe Biden amid controversy over his mental decline.
Schumer appeared on Meet the Press Sunday when host Kristen Welker asked him to respond to Americans who believe Democrats “misled” them about Biden’s mental abilities in the crucial months before he dropped out of the race.
“Look, we didn’t do that,” the New York Democrat insisted. “And let’s look at President Biden. He has a great record, adding that the president is “a great guy.”
Jones, known as one of CNN’s most reliable left-wing commentators, took Schumer to task for his claims.
‘It’s silly. Obviously, Biden was in bad shape,” Jones said on Abby Phillip’s show.
“I was surprised, other people were surprised who didn’t have regular contact with Biden were surprised,” Jones added, citing an interview with Anderson Cooper earlier last year in which the president seemed sharp.
“But there were people close by who should have known better and people just…obviously a lot was known and not said and not shared, and now it’s leaking out all the time.”
He then said Schumer had to “stop playing” if he wanted to “have any credibility.”
Liberal CNN pundit Van Jones slammed Chuck Schumer, comparing him to Pinocchio for defending Joe Biden as controversy raged over his mental decline
Meet Press host Kristen Welker asked what Schumer had to say to Americans who believe Democrats have “misled” them about Biden’s mental abilities ahead of the president’s disastrous June debate with Trump on the NBC show Sunday
“Schumer’s nose is going to grow if he keeps doing things like this,” Jones said, comparing the soon-to-be Senate minority leader to Pinocchio.
Jones then joked with the rest of the panel that Democrats claimed Biden did “backflips, pilates” and other physically amazing feats.
Welker on Sunday played a clip of Schumer from February 2024 in which the New York Democrat said he spoke to the president “regularly, sometimes several times a week.”
‘His mental acuity is fantastic. It’s fine. It’s just as good as it’s been over the years. “All this right-wing propaganda that his mental acuity has declined is wrong,” Schumer said at the time.
Schumer compared Biden’s record to that of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society and pointed to the 235 judges confirmed during the Democrat’s term.
“And he’s a patriot. He’s a great guy,” Schumer continued.
“And when he resigned, he did so on his own, because he thought it was better not only for the Democratic Party, but for America,” the Senate leader added. ‘We must all salute him. We must all salute him.’
“Schumer’s nose is going to grow if he keeps doing things like this,” Jones said, comparing the soon-to-be Senate minority leader to Pinocchio.
Jones joked with the rest of the panel that Democrats claimed Biden did “backflips, pilates” and other physically astonishing feats
At the same time, Schumer wouldn’t bite when Welker asked if he believed Biden, now 82, could have served a full four-year term had he stayed in the race and been successful in November.
“Well, I’m not going to speculate,” Schumer said.
“Like I said, I think his record is great. And he will go down in history as a truly outstanding president,” the New Yorker Democrat added.
Biden will also go down in history for helping President-elect Donald Trump win back the White House.
Welker’s interview took place a day before the official certification of Trump’s victory on January 6.
The Meet the Press host pointed to a recent New York Times op-ed by veteran Democratic strategist James Carville, in which he argued that his party’s loss was due to their losing the message on the economy.
She asked Schumer if he agreed with that assessment.
He did not immediately agree, saying instead that the party was facing “very heavy headwinds.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Democrats had a bad 2024 because they didn’t show enough “empathy and concern” for the plight of working Americans and instead “talked about the mechanics of the legislation.”
Schumer also said Democrats performed better than expected in the Senate races, winning or retaining seats in the swing states of Michigan, Arizona, Nevada and Wisconsin.
At the same time, Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris lost to Trump in those four states.
Schumer ultimately made the point — as did Carville — that it was a messaging problem.
“All too often, Kristen, we talked about the mechanics of the legislation and the details of the legislation,” Schumer said.
“And we really didn’t show the kind of empathy and concern, or show enough of it, to the average working families who didn’t realize how much we had done and how much we cared for them.”
“So what we’re going to do is spend a lot of time talking to working families, showing them how much we care about them, and not just talking about legislation, but talking about the conditions that so many working families are concerned about. their future,” Schumer said. “And that’s going to be a big change.”