Chuck Schumer’s ‘Powerful’ Speech on Anti-Semitism Praised On CNN: Message ‘Directed’ At ‘Some Members of His Own Party’
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) gave a landmark speech on anti-Semitism on Wednesday, calling the rise in hatred aimed at American Jews a “five-alarm fire.”
CNN’s Dana Bash covered the speech during her show Tuesday, saying, “In the weeks since the October 7th attacks in Israel, killing thousands, over a thousand Israelis, including women, children, and doing so with some barbaric ways, we have seen an alarming rise of anti-Semitism around the world, particularly here in the U.S. Jew hate.”
“Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in the U.S., just addressed this crisis in a powerful speech on the Senate floor,” Bash added before showing a clip from the speech:
I have noticed a significant disparity. Between how Jewish people regard the rise of anti-Semitism and how many of my non-Jewish friends regard it. To us the Jewish people, the rise of anti-Semitism is a crisis. A five-alarm fire that must be extinguished. For so many other people of goodwill, it is merely a problem, a matter of concern. After October 7th, Jewish Americans are feeling singled out, targeted, and isolated. In many ways, we feel alone.
Bash then brought on Capitol Hill reporter Melanie Zanona and noted, “It’s so interesting to hear somebody like Chuck Schumer say what he just said and really take up the mantle to speak for Jews in America in a way that we don’t always hear Jewish leaders, even and especially Chuck Schumer.”
“Yeah. That was a really powerful moment on the Senate floor,” Zanona replied, adding:
And for Chuck Schumer, it is personal. He is the highest-ranking Jewish lawmaker in the country. And that is why he said he felt compelled to speak out and to draw attention to what he views as a crisis in the country. But what he really wanted to convey here were the fears and anxieties that Jewish Americans feel in the country right now.
He ticked off a number of incidents since that October 7th attack, and he also described what it felt like to hear some of his fellow citizens say that the war and that Hamas was justified in some way, a message that could have been directed at some of members of his own party.
Now, of course, this speech comes as Congress has been wrestling with trying to do an aid package for both Israel and Ukraine. As of right now, though, that package really hinges on whether they can find bipartisan agreement on a border security provision package. That is something that Republicans have been demanding be included in any aid package that includes money for Ukraine. But that is a complex issue down it, as you know, it’s something that has long eluded Washington for many years. So we’ll see if they can get it done. As of right now, they are trying to make some progress, hoping to get a handshake deal by the end of this week on that part of the package. Could see something on the floor next week. But it’s a high task over here in Congress to get something like that done. So all eyes will see what whether they can get it done.
Watch the full clip above via CNN.
