TRANSCRIPT: Leader Schumer Joined John Berman On CNN To Highlight Trump’s Hypocrisy As Americans Confront Higher Costs And Rampant Chaos Due To GOP Failures

Washington, D.C. - Today, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) joined John Berman on CNN after President Trump's State of the Union to call out the President's lies as Americans face the reality of higher costs, corruption, and chaos due to GOP failures. Leader Schumer also discussed the administration's briefing on Iran and the SAVE America Act. Below is Senator Schumer's interview:

John Berman: With us now is the Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democrat from New York. Senator, thank you for being with us. "A turnaround for the ages." What's your reaction to that?

Schumer: Yeah, John, this was not America's State of the Union-this was Donald Trump's State of Delusion. He's in a bubble. He doesn't even know what the average American is going through. And as Americans sit and watch that speech filled with hype and fluff, and it doesn't answer the basic questions they want their president to answer. How are you going to make things more affordable? My electricity bill is up 6 percent. My health care costs are going through the roof, up $500 to $1,000 a month. The cost of meat and other things is way up. And what are you going to do about it? And he doesn't even talk about it. In fact, he had so little positive to say that he had to spend a whole lot of time saluting people who deserve to be saluted, but who he had nothing to do with. He didn't have anything to do with us winning the gold medal in ice hockey, which I'm very glad we did. He's just in his own bubble. And you compare, John, his speech to Spanberger's. She was right on the money. She talked about what the American people really care about, which is affordability-Donald Trump mocked it. And the contrast between the parties and the contrast between where Donald Trump is and where America is, is glaring.

Berman: You talk about the contrast. There's one point that a lot of the president's supporters are pointing a finger at this morning, when he asked you all to stand. Let me play that moment.

[Start Clip]

President Trump: If you agree with this statement, then stand up and show your support. The first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens. […] You should be ashamed of yourself not standing up. You should be ashamed of yourself.

[End clip]

Berman: So, you didn't stand, Democrats didn't stand?

Schumer: Well it's Donald Trump who should be ashamed.

Berman: Well, what did you think when you asked him to stand?

Schumer: Bottom line is very simple. We agree we need to protect Americans-he's not. By his reckless ICE agency in Minnesota, two Americans were killed. Americans are being pulled out of their cars and beaten. Americans' houses, the doors are being knocked down, you know, without a warrant. And no other police department in America run by Americans has done what ICE has done. So yes, we want to protect Americans. He's not doing it. And that's why the American people are against what ICE is doing. So it was legitimate and right not to stand.

Berman: Rahm Emanuel, former ambassador, former member of Congress, former chief of staff, former mayor, was on with Kate a little while ago. And a lot of Democrats skipped this speech, he said that Democrats should not have skipped. He also said Democrats should not have taken the bait from President Trump and yelled back at him like Congresswoman Ilhan Omar did or Rashida Tlaib. What do you think of that?

Schumer: Well, given how hostile and nasty Donald Trump was to Democrats over and over again, calling them epithets and things that had no relevance to making Americans' lives better, I thought the Democrats were extremely reserved and well behaved. And so the bottom line is, compare what maybe a few Democrats did to what Donald Trump did for the whole speech. And it ain't even close who was more out of line, who was more raucous.

Berman: Senator, you were briefed on Iran yesterday and what the United States is considering there. How close is the United States to taking military action against Iran?

Schumer: Well, I can't talk about a classified briefing. I can tell you two things. Number one, it was very serious. And number two, the bottom line is, he has an obligation to lay out to the Congress and to the American people his goals. That is how foreign policy should work. When you're forced to lay out your goals, you have to meet potential criticism. I am very worried about how Donald Trump conducts foreign policy, and particularly in this area of the world.

Berman: He said that he wanted to ensure that Iran never has a nuclear weapon, needs Iran to swear they will never try to get a nuclear weapon. Is that enough?

Schumer: Look, I'm not going to comment given the briefing I had. Donald Trump should come clean with the American people and tell them what the goals are here.

Berman: I want to ask about, he talked a lot about the SAVE America Act, which I do understand is different than just voter ID. What's being put before the Senate, is asking for people to have real ID or a passport or a birth certificate to register. When people are generally asked about voter ID, they're being asked to show an ID when they show up to vote. But what I'm asking you, Senator, because I know you're against the SAVE America Act, what kind of voter ID could you support? Is there a middle ground?

Schumer: Look, Democrats support voter ID, and many states do, but that's not what the Save [America] Act does. It will purge tens of millions of Americans from the voting lists. And they won't even know they're purged until they show up at the polling place and they say you're purged. And what is the mechanism for purging them? DOGE. What Elon Musk put in, in terms of the policies of what to do. Do people want [DOGE] to determine who should vote and who should not vote? That is so un-American. So the SAVE [America] Act goes way, way beyond mere voter ID when you show up at the election place. It goes to purging tens of, it's estimated 20, 30, 40 million Americans would not be allowed to vote if this act took effect. It is outrageous, and as I have said, it is Jim Crow 2.0. It's doing the same kind of thing that has been done.

Berman: So, forget the SAVE Act but is there, not the SAVE America Act, or SAVE Act, but is there some kind of voter ID you could vote for?

Schumer: Yes, there is. Democrats have voted for voter ID at the polling places over and over again and that's not the issue with the SAVE [America] Act.

Berman: Senator Chuck Schumer, thank you for your time this morning. Appreciate you being with us.

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