He’s at it again. He said this week that one of the only ways his opponents can win is “to steal the election.”
On September 14, he said his political opponents are going to “rig the rules.”
On June 25, he said his opponents are “trying to jaundice us, to cheat, to steal the election.”
On April 14, his office put out a report stating, “[They] are going to such great lengths to rig the rules in their favor,” in a report titled in part, “… Attempts to Steal the Mid-Term Election.”
These quotes are from exactly who you think they are from: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Wait … did you think they were from someone else?
This is the kind of language, from either side, that is dangerous. It tears at the fabric of our shared constitutional republic. Many, including myself, have rightly called out President Trump and other GOP elected officials for using nearly identical language claiming elections have been, or will be, stolen.
I’m from Georgia. The 2018 claims from Stacey Abrams, in which she refused to concede the governor’s race, helped lay a foundation for what was to come. Ms. Abrams stated that she “won,” that it was “a stolen election,” that what happened in 2018 was a “systematic and systemic dismantling of our democracy” — and I could go on and on. Her statements, her continued attacks on the election system itself, the claims in her and allied parties’ failed lawsuits … including ones that machines flipped votes (sounds vaguely familiar) … all made Georgia, and the nation, more susceptible to baseless election controversies like one a scant two years later.
Leader Schumer, who has vociferously criticized the president and other GOP lawmakers, is operating at the highest level of hypocrisy. But it hasn’t just been this year. As far back as 2021, he said on the Senate floor, “It’s spectacularly obvious that Republicans are making it harder to vote and easier to steal an election.” In the years subsequent to that he has made similar statements.
And as the leader of his party, we have seen his members use similar language. Senator Cory Booker said, “I think that Stacey Abrams’s election is being stolen from her.” Sherrod Brown, who is on the ballot for senator again this year in Ohio, said of that election, “If Stacey Abrams doesn’t win in Georgia, they stole it. It’s clear. It’s clear. And I say that publicly. It’s clear.”
You can’t credibly attack the president and his allies for undermining faith in elections when you do the exact same thing.
I know, we are in that scene in Casablanca when Major Renault says, “I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!” Then the croupier approaches and says to him, “Your winnings sir,” as he hands them over. “Oh thank you very much,” Renault replies. I’m “shocked” to find hypocrisy in politics, especially in Washington, D.C. That said, we the American people need some actual leadership on the topic of elections.
The incentives are just upside down. Saying ridiculous, incendiary things gets you clicks, likes, sound bites … and money. We need leadership which understands that the short-term high of those incentives is far exceeded by the long-term damage to our institutions and our nation, most especially our people.
I was speaking to a law professor who teaches constitutional and election law. Every year since 2001 she has shown the video of Vice President Al Gore gaveling down his Democratic colleagues from the House who were attempting to challenge his loss to George W. Bush. Every year her students watched that and discussed how he was a man of great character, who did the right thing in following the law and institutional norms — and how important it was. That was uniformly the response for two decades.
Then, in 2021, some young Democrats in her class began pushing back. “He should have fought harder,” “how dare he not put up a fight” … these sorts of comments began creeping into the conversation. They are becoming our cultural norms. And based on my firsthand experience, they are a bipartisan problem. Schumer’s comments this week reinforce it.
Norms can be shaped by the language and actions of our leaders. Regardless of party, we need more responsible language from all of them. That said, if you are a leader of the party that claims to be the only one defending democracy, maybe you should lighten up on claims that the next election you lose could very well be because it was “stolen.”
Schumer’s ‘Steal the Election’ Comment Is the Highest Hypocrisy
He’s at it again. He said this week that one of the only ways his opponents can win is “to steal the election.”
On September 14, he said his political opponents are going to “rig the rules.”
On June 25, he said his opponents are “trying to jaundice us, to cheat, to steal the election.”
On April 14, his office put out a report stating, “[They] are going to such great lengths to rig the rules in their favor,” in a report titled in part, “… Attempts to Steal the Mid-Term Election.”
These quotes are from exactly who you think they are from: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Wait … did you think they were from someone else?
This is the kind of language, from either side, that is dangerous. It tears at the fabric of our shared constitutional republic. Many, including myself, have rightly called out President Trump and other GOP elected officials for using nearly identical language claiming elections have been, or will be, stolen.
I’m from Georgia. The 2018 claims from Stacey Abrams, in which she refused to concede the governor’s race, helped lay a foundation for what was to come. Ms. Abrams stated that she “won,” that it was “a stolen election,” that what happened in 2018 was a “systematic and systemic dismantling of our democracy” — and I could go on and on. Her statements, her continued attacks on the election system itself, the claims in her and allied parties’ failed lawsuits … including ones that machines flipped votes (sounds vaguely familiar) … all made Georgia, and the nation, more susceptible to baseless election controversies like one a scant two years later.
Leader Schumer, who has vociferously criticized the president and other GOP lawmakers, is operating at the highest level of hypocrisy. But it hasn’t just been this year. As far back as 2021, he said on the Senate floor, “It’s spectacularly obvious that Republicans are making it harder to vote and easier to steal an election.” In the years subsequent to that he has made similar statements.
And as the leader of his party, we have seen his members use similar language. Senator Cory Booker said, “I think that Stacey Abrams’s election is being stolen from her.” Sherrod Brown, who is on the ballot for senator again this year in Ohio, said of that election, “If Stacey Abrams doesn’t win in Georgia, they stole it. It’s clear. It’s clear. And I say that publicly. It’s clear.”
You can’t credibly attack the president and his allies for undermining faith in elections when you do the exact same thing.
I know, we are in that scene in Casablanca when Major Renault says, “I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!” Then the croupier approaches and says to him, “Your winnings sir,” as he hands them over. “Oh thank you very much,” Renault replies. I’m “shocked” to find hypocrisy in politics, especially in Washington, D.C. That said, we the American people need some actual leadership on the topic of elections.
The incentives are just upside down. Saying ridiculous, incendiary things gets you clicks, likes, sound bites … and money. We need leadership which understands that the short-term high of those incentives is far exceeded by the long-term damage to our institutions and our nation, most especially our people.
I was speaking to a law professor who teaches constitutional and election law. Every year since 2001 she has shown the video of Vice President Al Gore gaveling down his Democratic colleagues from the House who were attempting to challenge his loss to George W. Bush. Every year her students watched that and discussed how he was a man of great character, who did the right thing in following the law and institutional norms — and how important it was. That was uniformly the response for two decades.
Then, in 2021, some young Democrats in her class began pushing back. “He should have fought harder,” “how dare he not put up a fight” … these sorts of comments began creeping into the conversation. They are becoming our cultural norms. And based on my firsthand experience, they are a bipartisan problem. Schumer’s comments this week reinforce it.
Norms can be shaped by the language and actions of our leaders. Regardless of party, we need more responsible language from all of them. That said, if you are a leader of the party that claims to be the only one defending democracy, maybe you should lighten up on claims that the next election you lose could very well be because it was “stolen.”
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