Hamilton: Many people in Kansas view Schumer as ‘polarizing’

Adam Hamilton, the newly elected Democratic Kansas senator, said Sunday that many people in Kansas view Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) as “polarizing.”

NBC News’s Kristen Welker asked Hamilton during his interview Sunday on “Meet the Press” why the top Senate Democrat, whom Hamilton has been critical of before, is not the right leader for the party.

“I mean no disrespect for Chuck Schumer,” Hamilton told Welker. “And I’ve told him that as well. But I think, at least where I live in Kansas, he is kind of a polarizing figure.”

Hamilton noted that his opponent on the campaign trail, incumbent Sen. Roger Marshall (R), “mentioned Chuck Schumer far more than he ever mentioned me. It was, like, 17 or 18 times.” He said that Kansans “perceive him [Schumer] to be further to the left, and somebody who’s a divisive figure.”

“What I’d be looking for is a leader who can lead from the center,” the Kansas Democrat continued. “Somebody who can bring Republicans and Democrats together, somebody who can bring the various factions in the Democratic Party together. Somebody with fresh ideas.”

He repeated that he meant no disrespect to Schumer but said “it feels like … it is a time for fresh, new ideas, and somebody who can unite us instead of dividing us.”

When asked who he would pick to be Schumer’s successor, Hamilton said, “I’ll tell you, I’ve been a pastor for 38 years. I know probably 10 senators personally, and even those I only know from brief conversations.”

“So, you know, I’m not at a place where I can tell you, ‘This is my short list,’” he explained. “There are a handful of people that I think are probably –– you know, lead more from the center. But I don’t know enough yet to be able to say, ‘These are the people I would endorse.’”

Schumer, though he faces some dissent from members of his own party, has enough votes to become Senate majority leader next month. He needs only a majority of the Democratic caucus, which is projected to have at least 54 members and possibly as many as 56 in January.

Other newly elected Democratic senators who have said they would not back Schumer as Senate majority leader include Michigan’s Abdul El-Sayed, Maine’s Troy Jackson and Minnesota’s Peggy Flanagan.

The New York Democrat told reporters Wednesday that he was not the “issue” and that he will be reelected to lead Democrats in the Senate.

“But the issue is focusing on the American people and what they want,” Schumer said.

Others outside of the Senate disapprove of Schumer returning to power.

The progressive group Indivisible called for Democrats to replace Schumer, saying that Americans “did not elect Democrats by historic margins just to bend the knee and go back to business as usual.”

Comedian Jon Stewart similarly said Schumer “does not understand the urgency of the moment and what the future demands.”

“Someone has to meet this moment, and they have got to show — and this moment is not, ‘Oh, we get to impeach everybody,’ like f— that,” Stewart said Thursday on “ The Weekly Show ” podcast. “Like, you have an opportunity to actually govern. Do it. Take it.”