Khanna on Schumer: ‘The American people are fed up with the old guard’

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) on Sunday said Americans “are fed up with the old guard” after being asked about Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), whose leadership has been called into question after a vote to advance a Republican-crafted funding bill.

“The American people are fed up with the old guard, there needs to be a renewal,” Khanna told CNN’s Dana Bash. “You know, in Silicon Valley, when a company isn’t doing well, you don’t keep the same team.”

“And I think there’s going to be a new generation in this country,” the California Democrat added.

Many Democrats have expressed disappointment over Schumer’s voting to advance a Republican-crafted funding bill, and some of his Senate colleagues recently questioned his decisionmaking in a way that they had not since he began his leadership tenure.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), a rising star among Democrats, went after Schumer earlier this month for saying he would vote to advance the bill.

“There is a deep sense of outrage and betrayal,” Ocasio-Cortez said of Schumer’s decision at the time. “And this is not just about progressive Democrats. This is across the board — the entire party.” 

Earlier this week, Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Md.) said he had “respect” for Schumer. However, he also said he was “afraid it may be time for Senate Democrats to choose a new leader.”

Khanna said Sunday that his “biggest problem and disagreement with Senator Schumer in The New York Times, he said, you know, ‘We did everything right, we just have a PR problem.’”

“No, we didn’t do everything right,” Khanna added. 

The Hill has reached out to Schumer’s office for comment.