Schumer ducks question on campaigning with socialist candidate who refuses to back him as leader

The Senate’s top Democrat hasn’t said whether he’ll stump on the campaign trail for Abdul El-Sayed but argues that El-Sayed brings fresh juice to the Democratic Party in its quest to flip the Senate.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is confident that Democrats can retake the Senate from Republican control, but the path to do so runs right through the Wolverine State, where El-Sayed bluntly said he wouldn’t back the top Democrat to lead the caucus if he’s elected.

But whether Schumer makes an appearance in Michigan between now and November remains up in the air. 

When asked whether he would campaign with El-Sayed during a news conference highlighting the recent race rating shifts in Texas and Iowa, the top Senate Democrat bulldozed over the question.

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“I have one mission: Win the Senate. We are on the path to doing it. Look, the bottom line is that we will win Michigan,” Schumer said. “El-Sayed has brought in new energy and new talent into the Democratic Party. But also in Michigan itself.”

When asked about progressive upstarts gaining footing and winning in primaries across the country, like in Florida, Wisconsin and Michigan, Schumer countered that the Democratic Party is a “big tent party.”

“Not everyone has the same exact view on every single issue,” Schumer said. “But if you look at the overall issues, the costs that people pay, the chaos in the Trump administration, you see it daily. And the corruption.”

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Still, El-Sayed isn’t on board the Schumer train. He’s said he would support Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., to be Democratic leader and has bucked the Democratic establishment throughout his campaign.

The pair have talked since El-Sayed’s victory earlier this month about shifting the focus to going after President Donald Trump, The New York Times reported. When asked to describe Schumer in one word, El-Sayed said, “Pragmatic.”

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Senate Republicans are confident that, after the bloody primary fight among El-Sayed; Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich.; and Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, they can flip the seat and expand their thin majority in the upper chamber.

Former Rep. Mike Rogers, the Republican nominee who narrowly lost to Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., in 2024, despite Trump winning the state over former Vice President Kamala Harris, has been busy painting El-Sayed as a far-left radical on the campaign trail.

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Schumer argued that Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on Canada spurned the state and gave Democrats an advantage over Rogers, given that Michigan shares a border with the Canadian province of Ontario, where billions in trade have crossed boundaries for years.

“Anyone who is halfway decent as president knows that the Michigan economy and the Canadian economy are totally intertwined,” Schumer said. “He’s blowing it. We will win Michigan.”