‘No wonder AOC and others are thinking about running against you in the primary…’
(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he was “appalled” over a letter from President Donald Trump, in which the president slammed Schumer as a “bad” senator who will soon be ousted by the left.
This letter from @realDonaldTrump to @SenSchumer seems to have been dictated verbatim and sent: “No wonder @AOC and others are thinking about running against you in the primary. If they did, they would likely win.” pic.twitter.com/z5jBXzK1X4
— Elizabeth Landers (@ElizLanders) April 2, 2020
“If you spent less time on your ridiculous impeachment hoax, which went haplessly on forever and ended up going nowhere (except increasing my poll numbers), and instead focused on helping the people of New York, then New York would not have been so completely unprepared for the ‘invisible enemy,’” Trump said in the letter.
“No wonder AOC and others are thinking about running against you in the primary,” he continued. “If they did, they would likely win.”
Trump sent Schumer the letter on Thursday after Schumer had asked the president to invoke the Defense Production Act and appoint a military leader to oversee the production and disbursement of equipment to New York hospitals.
Trump responded by reminding Schumer that he had already used the Defense Production Act, and that there already is a “senior military officer” in charge of distributing the supplies.
The president has made public declarations about his invocation of the act, including a requirement that General Motors adapt some of its plants to produce ventilators and an expected mandate forcing 3M to make face masks.
The act also provided the basis for a new Justice Department task force that will confiscate and redistribute medical supplies that price-gouging hoarders are attempting to sell at a hefty markup.
While scrambling to meet New York’s emergency needs with ramped-up production, Trump did not let its left-wing leaders off the hook for being caught unprepared.
“As you are aware, the federal government is merely a back-up for state governments,” he wrote in the letter to Schumer. “Unfortunately, your state needed far more of a back-up than most others.”
Reports last week indicated that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo had ignored a 2015 audit warning about a critical shortage of ventilators.
The president also accused Schumer of letting politics and personal grudges get in the way of his public obligations.
“While you have stated that you do not like Andrew Cuomo, you ought to start working alongside him for the good of all New Yorkers,” Trump wrote.
After Schumer received the letter, he told MSNBC that Trump needs to “stop the pettiness.”
“I’m just appalled,” Schumer said. “I say to the president, ‘Just stop the pettiness. People are dying. And so, President Trump, we need leadership, we need to get the job done. Stop the pettiness. Let’s get it done. Let’s roll up our sleeves. I sent the letter with the best of intentions, trying to improve a very bad situation.”
“Stop the pettiness.”
Sen. Schumer reacts to President Trump’s response, after call for the president to appoint a military “czar” to oversee the dissemination of supplies to fight coronavirus outbreak. pic.twitter.com/ukThGVHtaG
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) April 3, 2020
Schumer then doubled-down on his accusation that Trump’s administration is leaving New York to fend for itself in the fight against the coronavirus.
He admitted that Trump did indeed appoint a “senior military official” to oversee the distribution of medical supplies, but then said that he was “concerned” about Trump’s choice, Rear Adm. John Polowczyk. Schumer also said that Peter Navarro, who has been tapped to enforce the Defense Production Act, “was not up to the job.”
All of this proves that Schumer would rather spread “incorrect sound bites” and criticize the White House’s Coronavirus Task Force, Trump said, than work together to get things done.
“Fortunately, we have been working with your state and city governments, Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio, to get the job done,” Trump continued. “You have been missing in action, except when it comes to the ‘press.’ … I’ve known you for many years, but I never knew how bad a Senator you are for the state of New York until I became president.”
Liberty Headlines’ Ben Sellers contributed to this report.