Schumer Refers to ‘Retarded Children’ in Interview About Housing Plan

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) made mention of “retarded children” during his effort in an interview to defend a housing proposal.

He made the remark during the OneNYCHA podcast after host Saundrea Coleman noted that some politicians opposed a proposal for housing homeless people in New York, which she said was “unbelievable.”

“I have found that my whole career,” Schumer replied. “I wanted to build — when I first was an assemblyman, they wanted to build a congregant living place for retarded children, and the whole neighborhood was against it. These are harmless kids! They just needed some help. We got it done, [but] it took a while.”

A spokesman for the 70-year-old Schumer acknowledged the remarks late on Monday, saying in a statement that Schumer “has been an ardent champion for enlightened policy and full funding of services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

“He used an inappropriate and outdated word,” the spokesperson added. “He is sincerely sorry for his use of the outdated and hurtful language.”

Watch above via OneNycha.