Schumer Predicts ‘MAGA Influence’ In GOP Helps Democrats Hold Senate in 2024 — With or Without Trump on the Ticket
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told NBC News’s Sahil Kapur during an interview published Thursday that he believes the Democrats will hold onto the U.S. Senate in 2024, despite a very unfriendly map for the party.
Schumer argued that the “MAGA influence” in the GOP will continue to be election poison, while Democrats will work to use government to help families and not govern in some “ideological way.”
“The MAGA influence on the party will not go away very quickly. They’re very strong. They’re very active. They’re hard-right,” Schumer told Kapur.
Schumer concluded “that MAGA group that’s way out there” will cost Republicans votes regardless of whether or not Trump is on the ticket in 2024, reported NBC.
The New York Democrat argued, however, that the hard right of the GOP was only one part of the recipe for his party’s success. When asked directly if predicts Democrats will still control the Senate after the 2024 elections, he replied, “Yes, I absolutely do [believe it will] if we stick to our North Star, which is: help people with things that they need help with.”
“We believe government should help everyday families, but on things they care about, not in some ideological way,” Schumer added. Kapur summed up Schumer’s strategy as a promise “Democrats will govern and campaign over the next two years as pragmatists, not ideologues.”
“You put those two things together, and I think the election results in 2024 might be better than a lot of people are now predicting,” Schumer concluded.
The confident Democrat also boasted of the party’s accomplishments, which he claimed will begin to show results for voters ahead of the 2024 vote. Specifically, Schumer “cited the Inflation Reduction Act’s provisions to lower prescription medicine prices and cap Medicare out-of-pocket drug costs at $2,000 a year. And he said infrastructure spending will ramp up and semiconductors plants will be built because of the CHIPS and Science Act,” explained Kapur.
“There’s a lot of benefits that are already in the pipeline,” Schumer noted, arguing that these accomplishments coupled with MAGA’s power in the GOP may have put the suburbs out of reach for Republicans:
As a result, Schumer warned that suburban voters who have ditched the GOP in recent years will see no reason to return, calling it ‘part of a realignment’ in the American electorate.
While Schumer may be confident after holding the Senate this last November, the 2024 map is anything but favorable for the Democrats. The party must defend three seats in solidly red states: West Virginia, Montana, and Ohio. Additionally, Democrats must hold on to Arizona, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Michigan, and Wisconsin in 2024, while their other chances at pick-ups are in Texas and Florida – reliable GOP strongholds.
