Jon Stewart expects Schumer, Jeffries to disappoint if the Dems

Progressive policy ambitions meet practical realities as Americans weigh costs and consequences.

Source: New York Post
4 min read
Why This Matters

Jon Stewart said the quiet part out loud, and it’s worth sitting with for a second. Even he—the guy Democrats treat like a secular saint—expects Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries to fold like cheap suits the first time they have to make a real choice. That isn’t a right-wing insult.

New Republican Times Editorial Board

Jon Stewart expects Schumer, Jeffries to disappoint if the Dems
Image via New York Post

Talk show host Jon Stewart suggested that even if Democrats win a massive victory in the midterms, a future Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer , D-NY, and a future Speaker of the House Hakeem Jeffries , D-NY, will turn out to be massive disappointments.

Democrats were initially in disarray after President Donald Trump’s victory against Kamala Harris in November. However, as Trump’s base fractured amid the Iran war and the affordability crisis that followed, Democrats are expected to win a historic victory in this November’s midterms.

On Wednesday, Stewart was asked a humorous question on his podcast about whether the downside of a Democratic midterm victory will be Schumer and Jeffries getting more “airtime.” “Look, I think what’s going to happen is they’re going to have to f–king do something.

They’re going to have to deliver,” he said. “They’re not going to be able — it will not be sufficient to make their entire personalities opposition to whatever Trump politics are; they’re going to have to have a prescription for rebalancing this economy in a smart and urgent way. “I am not confident that is in their DNA,” Stewart continued. “I’m not confident that it’s in Schumer’s DNA , certainly, which means I’m actually hopeful he won’t be there as the leader.

That they will come in and say, ‘We’re not going to go down that corporatist path again. We are going to make the changes that the American people are demanding that we make in an urgent way that is not bound by some idealized vision of what the parliamentarian might think is OK.’” “F–k that,” Stewart said. “Like, if you are granted control, if they give you the ring, do something with it, you b—–ds.” Fox News Digital contacted Jeffries and Schumer and did not receive an immediate reply.

Veteran GOP strategist Mary Marslender told Fox News Digital she agrees with Stewart’s take. “I agree with Jon Stewart that both Schumer and Jeffries are not confident leaders, but that’s because their ideology is power,” she responded. “They are not the brakes that will restrain the Democratic Party from pursuing a radical agenda.

Instead, they often appease the more radical members of their conference and push the party leftwards on issues like the courts, federal agencies, government spending, progressive prosecutors and immigration whenever they have the votes. “Both men have shown little willingness to challenge the party’s more extreme factions; for example, they have said they will welcome DSA candidates who win primaries into their ‘big tent’ party,” she added. “They are not centrists; they follow the prevailing political winds within their party and will implement those policies to hold power even if those policies run counter to what the American people support.” Former Democratic advisor Dan Turrentine argued that Stewart’s comments express the frustration Democratic voters have with party leaders. “Voters are frustrated and angry that neither party is focused on them,” he told Fox News Digital. “We are winning because Republicans are losing, not because we are doing things well.

The D ‘Majority Makers’ are not going to be the progressive, base candidates, but moderates who will want to focus on commonsense affordability issues, not the ‘revenge’ and ‘blow everything up’ base stuff. “Jeffries and Schumer will need to balance this to protect their majority while maintaining base enthusiasm.

It is a ‘both’ and not ‘either/or’ scenario. Given how weak both are, and that they both will face a primary challenge next year, it is going to be tough. “I think Stewart is indicative of the irrational expectations of the base.

They don’t appreciate the different reasons different people are angry. We are not potentially winning in Iowa, Arkansas, Kansas, Texas and South Carolina for the same reasons DSA candidates are winning.”

Original source:

Read at New York Post

How We See It

New Republican Times Editorial Board

Jon Stewart said the quiet part out loud, and it’s worth sitting with for a second. Even he—the guy Democrats treat like a secular saint—expects Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries to fold like cheap suits the first time they have to make a real choice. That isn’t a right-wing insult. It’s a straight-faced assessment from the left’s own beloved court jester, and it tells you everything about the intellectual bankruptcy over there right now.

The party is still reeling from Trump’s win in November, and they haven't stumbled onto a single new idea since. Their entire strategy is to hope the public forgets why they got fired and to block everything in court. Stewart is essentially saying what we’ve been watching with our own eyes: the leadership is terrified of its own shadow. They want to fight everything, but they’re scared to actually engage on the merits because their base would rather lose a purity contest than win a practical argument.

What makes this delicious is that Stewart is handing them a roadmap and they’re too weak to take it. He’s telling them to show some spine, to give people a reason to vote for something rather than just against Trump. Instead, Schumer is likely to play procedural rope-a-dope while Jeffries gives another speech about "decency" that connects with nobody outside a Manhattan fundraiser. The base would rather lose with a hashtag than win with a policy.

We don’t need to lecture anyone about principles here. The math is simple. The country rejected their agenda and their messengers. The Democrats have a choice: keep listening to the loudest voices on social media and lose the working class forever, or actually try to act like a party that wants to govern. They’ll choose the former, and they’ll do it with a straight face. Stewart sees it, and now the rest of the country does too.

Commentary written with AI assistance by the New Republican Times Editorial Board.