Warnock ducks questions about backing Schumer as Senate majority leader

Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) isn’t committing to backing Sen. Chuck Schumer as Senate majority leader, repeatedly dodging questions about whether he’d support the New York Democrat in a leadership election.

The lawmaker appeared on “ The Breakfast Club ” on Monday and declined multiple times to directly answer questions from the nationally syndicated radio show’s co-host, Charlamagne tha God, about Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.).

“There are so many people” calling for Schumer and Jeffries “to step aside or to fundamentally change how they lead,” Charlamagne, who was born Lenard McKelvey, told Warnock.

“Do you believe Democratic leadership understands what voters were demanding in this election?” he asked.

“I spent a lot of time on the ground listening. I campaigned in about 10 states trying to help us with the Senate majority,” Warnock said, adding that Americans are “deeply frustrated” and “hungry.”

“But does Democratic leadership understand that?” Charlamagne asked, mentioning Schumer and Jeffries again.

“I think that’s a conversation we need to have, and we will continue to have inside the caucus,” Warnock replied.

“In terms of leadership, I’m open to hearing whoever in the caucus thinks that they should lead in this moment,” he added.

“I want to hear that vision, but it’s got to center the concerns of ordinary people — it can’t be about Beltway politics. It’s about how we actually deliver to the people,” Warnock said.

“But does the party need new leadership, or does it need a new agenda under the same?” Charlamagne asked.

“I think the whole country needs a new agenda,” Warnock said, before calling President Trump the “most corrupt president we’ve had in American history” and a “vile human being.”

“The Trump era is indicative of the brokenness and the deep pain that people are feeling in our country, and I think we need leaders who are going to take on the corruption,” he continued.

Schumer has expressed confidence he’ll be reelected as Senate majority leader next month despite some incoming Democratic lawmakers, including Sens.-elect Annie Andrews (S.C.), Adam Hamilton (Kan.), Abdul El-Sayed (Mich.) and Troy Jackson (Maine), saying they would not back him.

“The issue is not me. I’ll be reelected as majority leader. But the issue is focusing on the American people and what they want,” Schumer said earlier this month.

Following the massive wins by Democrats in the midterm elections, a progressive group called Indivisible urged lawmakers to replace Schumer as the leader in the upper chamber, calling for a “new generation of Democratic fighters.”

Pressed again later in the interview by Charlamagne on whether Schumer “is the right person to lead this new Democratic Senate majority,” Warnock responded, “I think we need fresh vision, fresh ideas, and I’m open to hearing whoever thinks they have that.”

“Do you think he is the person?” Charlamagne asked, referring to Schumer.

“The process for choosing the leader will come up soon enough, and I’ll be engaged with that. But right now, I’m focused on delivering, and I will not tolerate any leader that’s not going to take on this corruption.”

During the “Breakfast Club” interview, Charlamagne asked Warnock about the historic gains for Democrats on Election Day.

“When you look at the results, what do you believe the American people were voting for? Were they voting for Democrats? Were they voting against Trump? Or were they just voting for a fundamentally different kind of politics?” he asked.

“All of this corruption, healthcare that they can’t afford. People are just feeling crushed,” Warnock said.

“It definitely was a complete rebuke of the last 10 years of MAGA,” Charlamagne said, referring to Trump’s Make America Great Again movement.

“But I don’t want Democrats to get comfortable and think that they actually went out there and voted because they trust the Democratic Party,” Charlamagne told the lawmaker.

“I agree with that. I think both political parties don’t have a good brand right now,” Warnock said.

“And I think there’s a way in which people have been trying for a long time almost to get above politics.”

“I do think both parties are very much on trial right now, and people want to know who will deliver for everyday people,” Warnock said, “which is the work that I try to do every single day.”