Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer “lives in fear” of the Democratic Party’s far-left wing Saturday on “My View with Lara Trump,” arguing the longtime New York lawmaker has increasingly deferred to progressives as Republicans and Democrats head into the final stretch before the midterm elections.
“I think he lives in fear of that every day. I really do,” Thune, R-S.D., said when asked whether he thinks Schumer is concerned with being overtaken by “socialists.”
“I look at the way that the leaders in the Senate now act, and he voted once to open up the government when they were in the process of shutting it down the first time, and it just got blown up by the far left. And ever since then, I mean, it’s kind of whatever they want. They defer to that far-left base.”
Thune made the remarks while discussing what he characterized as Democratic pushback in the Senate, arguing Republicans have been unable to advance several pieces of legislation that are traditionally supported by both parties, like military funding.
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“We have a saying in my office that if you don’t get national security right, the rest is conversation. You’ve got to protect the country. And so funding our military, the defense authorization bill, as I mentioned earlier — the Democrats blocked us from even getting on it on the floor. Historically, that’s been bipartisan,” Thune said.
He also emphasized the importance of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which he said is “critical to our intelligence community.”
“Those are the kinds of things that keep me up at night. I think, to me, it’s always about keeping this country safe and secure. Since that problem is kind of now solved, people are like, ‘OK, what have you done for me lately?’ And obviously, you know, we’ve got more to do.”
“But the trajectory that we are on as a country, when it comes to economic policy, national security, the border, all these issues, we are headed in the right direction,” he added.
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The South Dakota senator outlined Republicans’ legislative priorities should the GOP retain control of Congress in November, which included military funding, judicial nominations, permitting reform and more.
“If we can maintain the majorities in the House and the Senate, the sky’s the limit,” he said.
Thune’s remarks follow several prominent victories for Democratic socialist candidates, including recent wins in high-profile primary elections across state and local levels. In New York City, Darializa Avila Chevalier, the 32-year-old community organizer backed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani, narrowly topped incumbent Democrat Adriano Espaillat, the 71-year-old Congressional Hispanic Caucus chair and the first Dominican American elected to the U.S. House.
Mamdani-endorsed state Assembly member Claire Valdez, who won her primary in June in New York’s 7th District, emphasized in her victory speech that “we haven’t just won an election. We have declared that this movement is durable — that it is growing, and that it will not stop until working people are no longer asked to just build the table, no longer just offered a seat at the table, but will run the table.”
While progressive figures continue to push the party leftward, Schumer has trod carefully, seeking to keep the party unified under a “big tent” strategy. Over the summer, he dodged a question from Fox News about whether the Democratic Socialists of America’s platform has a place in the Democratic Party.
“[The] bottom line is Democrats from one end of the spectrum to the other are going to be working to defeat Trump, to bring down costs, to go after his corruption and to end the chaos,” Schumer replied at a leadership news conference.
The Senate minority leader did not elaborate on whether he agreed with the DSA’s call to abolish the Senate.
Fox News Digital reached out to Schumer for comment but did not immediately hear back.
Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser, Adam Pack and Kelly Phares contributed to this report.
