Hot Mic Catches Schumer On Trump Deal: ‘He Likes Us! He Likes Me Anyway’

UNITED STATES - FEBRUARY 28: Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., conducts a news conference after the Senate Policy luncheons in the Capitol, February 28, 2017. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call) (CQ R... UNITED STATES - FEBRUARY 28: Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., conducts a news conference after the Senate Policy luncheons in the Capitol, February 28, 2017. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call) (CQ Roll Call via AP Images) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) was heard saying Thursday morning that President Donald Trump “likes us” and that “it’s going to work out,” perhaps referring to a potential deal shielding young undocumented people from deportation.

The comment was picked up by a CSPAN microphone and broadcast live.

“He likes us!” Schumer is heard saying, referring to Trump. “He likes me, anyway.”

“Look, what we said was exactly accurate,” Schumer continues. “Here’s what I told him. I said, Mr. President, you’re much better off if you can sometimes step right, and sometimes step left. If you have to step just in one direction, you’re boxed. He gets that.”

An aide seems to ask an unintelligible question, to which Schumer responds: “Oh, it’s going to work out, and it’ll make us more productive, too.”

The remark came after Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi met with Trump over dinner Wednesday, without any other top Republicans present aside from members of Trump’s Cabinet. Afterward, both Trump and the Democratic leaders hinted that they had agreed to pursue a deal that would shield DACA recipients from deportation while also beefing up border security. Trump said later that his politically toxic border wall would “come later,” further enraging Republicans, who saw it as another departure from a key campaign promise.

It’s still far from likely that Trump will sign legislation protecting those whose work permits under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival Program will begin expiring in six months. Trump ended the program on Sept. 5 and told Congress to “legalize” it, but he could also be simply passing the buck for a wave of deportations to come.

Latest Livewire

Notable Replies

  1. Easy there, Chuck, remember you’re dealing with a narcissistic psychopath…

  2. Excerpt:
    Schumer is the sitting member of Congress to whom Trump personally donated the most money, according to Federal Election Commission filings. Over the past three decades, Trump donated roughly $9,000 directly to the New York Democrat’s campaign. Three of Trump’s children — Eric, Donald Jr., and Ivanka — donated a combined $6,800 to Schumer. Jared Kushner, Ivanka’s husband and a White House senior adviser, donated $4,000 to Schumer.

  3. Avatar for erik_t erik_t says:

    A “hot mic”, yes. A hot mic just so happened to catch Schumer speaking approvingly of Trump, expressing happiness that Trump likes him.

    I’m not generally a conspiracy-minded person, but I have no trouble imagining this was intentional.

  4. Now, Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi are going to host a dinner, inviting Trump, the Repub leadership and Trump’s die hard supporters to see “who eats what.”

  5. Will they have food tasters there, just in case? Hey, I heard Chris C. is looking for a job…

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

96 more replies

Participants

Avatar for system1 Avatar for pluckyinky Avatar for littlegirlblue Avatar for wordtoyamamma Avatar for navamske Avatar for losamigos Avatar for zoester Avatar for Lacuna-Synecdoche Avatar for arrendis Avatar for bonvivant Avatar for 26degreesrising Avatar for docb Avatar for thunderclapnewman Avatar for tena Avatar for litho Avatar for spencersmom Avatar for jtx Avatar for sickofitall Avatar for ncgirl741 Avatar for katscherger Avatar for aiddon Avatar for moderately Avatar for win Avatar for outsidertrading618

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: