Senator Schumer (00:00):
… trouble with it. But I'm proud to be joined here by Senator Durbin. This is the first time Senator Durbin is coming to one of these gatherings since he announced that he was not going to run again. And you know how much we love him and going to miss him, but know he's going to do great things in the next year and a half as well. So, Dick… Is the press allowed to applaud Dick Durbin? No.
Speaker X (00:21):
No.
Senator Schumer (00:22):
I will. Okay. Okay, remember Sid Caesar? Have any of you heard of Sid Caesar?
Speaker X (00:34):
What is the hand for?
Senator Schumer (00:34):
When he'd get applause, he'd go, "No. Please, no." Okay.
Speaker X (00:39):
What is the sound of one hand clapping?
Senator Schumer (00:40):
Right, yes. Okay. Anyway, this week, as you know, marks the 100 days that Donald Trump has been in office. It is 100 days of chaos, from one end of the government and one end of the country to the other. So let's do a simple review. In these 100 days, what has gone up? Cost of groceries, up, energy costs, up, cost of clothes, of homes, of cars, up. What has dropped? Your retirement and 401(k)s, down the stock market, down, the dollar, down. And today we saw the trend continue. Consumer confidence, down. And that's not just a statistic. Consumers, when they don't have confidence, don't buy things. Businesses, when they see chaos, freeze.
(01:35)
I have talked to business people, some of the biggest businesses, medium-sized businesses, and small businesses. They're all frozen. Even if Trump were to drop the tariffs, and who knows what the hell he'll do, I doubt he'll do that, the businesses don't know what he'd do two weeks later. So they're frozen, and that's why the chance of recession, not according to us, but according to banking experts, is so much greater than it was before. Americans are noticing. The polls this week show Trump has the lowest 100-day approval rating since they started polling 80 years ago. The lowest. Even worse, 72% of Americans think it's likely that Trump's handling of the economy will walk us directly into a recession.
(02:27)
So over the last two weeks, all of us have been in our states. There are seven Republican districts in New York, I went to six, talking about Medicaid, talking about social security, talking about tax breaks for the wealthy, talking about veterans. And the reaction was amazing. Republicans came from all over. On Long Island, I was at a place called Tandy Clothes. She's well known in Suffolk County, it's in a Republican district. And she's a Trump supporter, but she said, "My costs are going up 30%. I'm just furious at what Trump is doing." And that's happening over and over again in every place we go.
(03:08)
The Republican senators and congressmen know that they've got real trouble with this Trump agenda. And up to now they've been able to hide it, obfuscate, say they don't exactly know what it is, say, "Who knows?" Well, now that the Republican House has started putting out its reconciliation bills, they can't hide. They can't hide.
(03:31)
So this has happened all across our state. I won't get into the details there, but there's a feeling of incompetence, of indecision and chaos eating away at much of the country, and that is emanating from the man who's in charge, Donald Trump. And Senate Republicans aren't just silent, they are complicit. They're going along with all of this. They are complicit, they are co-conspirators with Trump's horrible, horrible decisions for the country.
(04:08)
Let's remember what Donald Trump said again, and again, and again on the campaign trail. He said, starting on day one, quote, "We will end inflation and make America affordable again. A vote for Trump means your groceries will be cheaper, your energy costs and grocery prices will come tumbling down, and we'll bring back the American dream bigger, better, and stronger than before." Yet here we are, and Americans know the reality. Democrats will be taking to the Senate floor all night tonight to talk about how bad the 100 days have been and about how our Republican colleagues are conspiring, co-conspirating to work, to go along with Trump on things that the American people regard as very bad for them and their well-being.
(04:56)
Senator Durbin.
Senator Durbin (04:58):
Thanks, Chuck. Let me start off by congratulating Donald Trump for being such a powerful unifying force. In only 100 days, he took a divided nation and tipped the balance decisively. With his embarrassing, insulting, petty, and outrageous attack, Donald Trump has given Canada a new national resolve. He single-handedly revived the Liberal Party in Canada, and spurred them to an historic victory yesterday. Now, if he could just be a positive unifying force in the United States. Instead, for 100 days, Trump and his administration of billionaire buddies have caused chaos, wreaked havoc ,and sowed division. He's undermined the constitution, our system of checks and balances, and the rule of law. And through it all, my Republican colleagues have remained silent.
(05:58)
Take Donald Trump's ill-conceived mindless tariff tax war, which caused global markets to plunge, wiped trillions of dollars of wealth from the stock market, and will cause Americans to suffer from higher prices and smaller exports. While their constituents saw their retirement funds drain and grocery bills skyrocket, Republicans remained silent. Rinse and repeat this cycle. Donald Trump threatens to withhold federal funds from higher education institutions to coerce them to give up their constitutional rights. Republicans remain silent. The Secretary of Defense violates national security protocol and shares classified war plans in Signal chat that mistakenly includes a journalist. Republicans remain silent. Unelected billionaire, Elon Musk, and his DOGE brothers gut the federal government, leading to cuts to life-saving medical research, Americans unable to get their social security benefits and threats to Medicaid. You guessed it, Republicans remain silent.
(07:06)
Never in our nation's history has a co-equal branch of government so willfully rolled over and ceded their power. It is the silence of the lambs. The president is testing and violating the bounds of our constitution, amassing power for himself as he tanks our economy, violating the rights of Americans and destroying our image abroad. My congressional Republican colleagues have the power to stop it. They have majorities in both chambers. And in private moments, many of them express to us similar outrage in horror at what Trump is doing. But as the constituents suffer, out of fear of retaliation, Republicans remain silent. When we're elected members of Congress, our oath is to the Constitution, not to the president.
Senator Schumer (07:54):
Senator Klobuchar.
Senator Klobuchar (07:55):
Very good. Well, if you wondered what the great Senator Durbin's going to do for the next year and a half, you just saw it. Devoted to progress and devoted to taking this on.
(08:07)
So like so many of our colleagues, I spent the last two weeks in my state, 19-county tour, and here are two things that I learned that are highly relevant to what's going on here. Because as we have said, corruption is up, chaos is up, and costs are up. What did I see? I saw regular people, farmers showing up in small towns, populations of under 1,000, and sitting next to what were probably best defined as activists. One memorable moment, someone had a sign that said, "This is not normal," who was an activist that showed up, you've all seen those signs at these town halls, next to a farmer, who looked at her and said, "What does that mean? I'm normal."
(08:51)
What that meant to me was, he wasn't part of this big town halls, but he was showing up because of what was happening to him. Soybean farmer just living on the edge because of his input costs, because of weather events, because of some of the things we're seeing out there in farm country for costs and consolidation, and now what you add to it are these tariffs. His soybean market is going to dry up in China. But guess what? He wasn't invited to the White House like Tim Cook was. I'm glad Tim Cook saved his phones, but this guy, the soybean farmer, he doesn't have that phone number, he can't call to get an exemption.
(09:32)
Or the woman who runs Busy Baby, maybe you haven't heard about it, but she was Minnesota Entrepreneur of the Year. She's got a business, innovative, with things for highchairs so the stuff doesn't fall off the highchairs. Guess what? She came up, she is dying right now. She can hardly make it. She didn't get invited to that Wall Street meeting with Secretary Bessent, with J.P. Morgan. She didn't know how to get into that thing. She doesn't got the insight.
(09:58)
So who is the roadkill when it comes to this economy that Trump has wrought? It is the small businesses, it's the small farmers, it's the consumers who are facing a $4,000 tariff tax. It is the people that can't reach their social security contacts. Their spouse dies, they can't figure out what's going on, they're trying to do it online, then they're asked for an ID, then they're trying to make a call, can't get through, field office is closing. That's what's happening right now in this country. So I'm worried about the whole economy, but I'm mostly worried about the immediate, and that is the people that don't have the means to take this on, aren't invited by Trump to the White House, aren't invited to the Treasury meetings. That's what we're seeing in this country right now.
(10:43)
And when people say, "How are you fighting it?" We're fighting it in the courts. Over 100 cases now where they found what he is doing illegal or unconstitutional. Democrats are fighting it in Congress. You saw it with the vote that we did on the Canadian tariffs. You're going to see it this week again on that front. And then we're fighting with our constituents on our side. And we are sick and tired of this rubber-stamp Republican Congress. It is time for four Republicans to stand up in the Senate and four Republicans to stand up in the House, and the results will be different for the American people. But this is the state of the economy in the 100 days since Donald Trump has been in here. And never have I ever seen an anniversary… We always do this stuff, you guys are used to it, 100 days, 100 days, 100 days. Look at the polls, look at the change, look at the drastic effect it's having on Americans. That's his 100 days, and he owns it.
Senator Schumer (11:39):
Senator Booker.
Senator Booker (11:41):
So first allow me a point of personal privilege to say a word about my chairman, Dick Durbin. I came to the Senate about 13 years ago, and in Dick Durbin, I found a mentor, a friend, and a true leader. There are a lot of bills that I lead in the Senate that are associated with me that actually were bills that Dick Durbin gave me to lead. And I will tell you this, the mark of a great leader in my opinion is not somebody who says, "Follow me," but that empowers other people to be leaders as well. He has 18 months left, but I wanted to take this opportunity to tell him again publicly how great he is in my eyes and how grateful I am for him shaping my career. So thank you very much.
(12:25)
So, 100 days. I do not need to speak, Schumer does not need to speak. The truth of the matter is the American public has already rendered their verdict. This is the most failing failure fantastically of any president in four generations. The American public has already made it clear, "Donald Trump, you have failed us." He has the lowest approval rating of any president in 80 years. And why? Because he has consistently said one thing and done another. He has lied to the American people and betrayed those people who put their act of civic trust, their vote, for him. How so? Well, first and foremost, he said that he would manage the economy better. He said that he would lower people's costs on day one, across the board. Across the board, we see Americans' prices for home goods, for baby carriages, for groceries, going up, and up, and up. And he has so tanked the economy that there are thousands of Americans right now who thought they would retire this year because their 401(k)s had enough resources for them to do that, that are putting off their retirement.
(13:34)
Number two is, he said he would drain the swamp. Well, this is a staggering lie. This president has literally brought in the greatest corruption in the White House ever. Exhibit 1, frankly, is this meme coin that he created. He has literally done something that is so unconscionable that he's selling attendance at the White House to people who buy his meme coin, which is a way for people just to deposit money. This president has already grifted millions and millions of dollars from his position while costs are going up. This president has eviscerated people like inspector generals who were put into place to call out corruption.
(14:19)
Number three, this president has been a foreign policy failure. He again told the American public, "I will bring an end to the Ukrainian war on day one, to the invasion of Ukraine." And what he has done instead is he has called a hero a dictator, and coddled up to the dictator in Putin. In addition to that, he has alienated our allies, said in the most demeaning and degrading way that he was going to make Canada a 51st state, and gave license to China to have influence across the globe as we, through our cuts in USAID, have retreated. We had sent a few people over after the disaster in Myanmar, who got fired while they were doing the job, while the Chinese stepped up and brought millions and millions of dollars of resources to people in aid. That used to be America.
(15:17)
He lied. He said he was going to be a champion of free speech, and now he is attacking college campuses, cutting resources that we need for scientific investment, going after private businesses like law firms and making them heel in front of him or he will unleash economic peril in a way that is unconstitutional and illegal.
(15:39)
Finally, this president is trashing our constitution. Again, don't listen to us here in Congress, listen to the Supreme Court itself, when the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court does the rare thing to rebuke a president who called for the impeachment of a judge because he didn't like his decision. He is not respecting the separation of powers and the equal power of each branch. But more than that, the way he intimidates and trolls judges has seen threats on our judges go up as he has singled people out and targeted them online. This is the president that has no respect for our constitution or our constitutional traditions.
(16:26)
And so again, the American people have spoken. He has set a record in my lifetime and beyond for fantastic failing in a way that truly has even Republicans standing now against him on his policies. We are in a crisis moment. This president is out of control. And the question is not what Democrats are going to do, but what the Republicans in Congress will do. They know it is wrong, this tariff war he has unleashed on the globe. They know it is wrong when the Secretary of Defense violates our national security with his use of a public app. The Republicans here know it is wrong, what he is doing in undermining bipartisan spending plans. They know it's wrong when he's impounding dollars that go to help local communities.
(17:19)
The question is, what will, after 100 days, Congress people do as we now see a bill in this work period that is threatening to cut healthcare for millions and millions of Americans. Why? Why gut Medicaid, which he promised he wouldn't do? Why is he pushing to do that? Because he wants to give more tax cuts to the wealthiest in our country. It is time for more people to step up and say, "This is not left or right, it is right or wrong. This is not about party, this is about patriotism." It's time for a call to conscience of all Americans, Republican or Democrat, to say, "No, stop the lies. Stop the corruption, and do not… Keep your hands off the Medicaid of millions and millions of Americans."
Senator Schumer (18:05):
Thank you. Let's go. We got to go pretty quick. Go ahead.
Speaker 6 (18:11):
Thank you. Good afternoon. What do you think is the difference between Republicans in how they've responded to President Trump during his first term and what you see now?
Senator Schumer (18:18):
Well, I think they're much more afraid of him now. He's done much more in terms of threatening them both privately and even publicly. And I think they're also far more, they're squirming, because they know his policies are so unpopular. So they don't know what to do. They're between a rock and a hard place. On the one side, Trump's threats, on the other side, the American people who hate what Trump is proposing.
(18:42)
Yes.
Speaker 7 (18:45):
There's a poll out today that has your approval ratings lower than any other congressional leader. It's 17%. Are you concerned that you may be a liability for your party?
Senator Schumer (18:54):
Polls come and go. Our party is united. We're on our front foot, we're stepping forward, going after Trump, and having real success.
(19:02)
Yes.
Speaker 8 (19:03):
Thank you very much. On border security, the White House and Republicans are touting the claim that illegal crossings are down by 95%, gotaways, as they call them, are down by 99%, and only nine foreign nationals were released into the country compared to many more under the Biden administration during an equal period. Is that not a sign that the Republicans' policy on border security is working?
Senator Schumer (19:24):
I'd say one thing to you. I don't trust Trump's numbers.
(19:28)
Okay, last one because it's three o'clock and we have the gold medal ceremony.
Speaker 9 (19:33):
Referring to the meme coins that Senator Booker just talked about, your colleague, Senator Ossoff, suggested that President Trump has committed impeachable offenses last week. Do you agree with that? Do you think that he has done that?
Senator Schumer (19:44):
That's far down the road. Far down the road. Thank you.
Speaker X (19:47):
Leader Schumer?
(19:47)
Leader Schumer?
(19:47)
Call on women, call on women.
(19:47)
[inaudible 00:20:02]
