Video shows Schumer discussing 2022 midterms, not 'blaming Republicans' | Fact check
The claim: Video shows Chuck Schumer saying he could blame 'Republicans and MAGA’ for ‘delaying reform’
A Feb. 29 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) shows a video of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer talking to President Joe Biden on an airport tarmac.
"BREAKING: Chuck Schumer caught on hot mic, 'I know I can blame REPUBLICANS AND MAGA, I'm a pro,'" reads text included in the post.
“I just need more delays to show one particular donor I’m delaying reform,” the Democrat from New York purportedly says to the president, according to the caption. “I know I can keep blaming Republicans and MAGA. I’m a pro.”
The post received nearly 3,000 likes in two days.
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Our rating: Altered
The conversation is miscaptioned and the audio is altered so that engine noise drowns out the exchange. In the original video, Schumer can clearly be heard talking about Democrats’ chances for success in various states ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. He makes no mention of blaming Republicans.
Schumer said Democrats are 'going downhill' in Georgia in clip
The video shows an exchange between Biden and Schumer that took place in October 2022. Footage of it was shared at the time by the Wall Street Journal, as evidenced by the Wall Street Journal logo in the upper right-hand corner of the Instagram video. In that footage, Schumer’s remarks are much more audible over the sound of the plane engine and focus on the Democrats' chances in the 2022 midterm elections.
“It looks like the debate didn’t hurt us as much in Pennsylvania as of today, so that’s good,” Schumer says in part. "And basically, we’re picking up steam in Nevada.”
He later says Democrats are “going downhill” in Georgia, but that the party’s early turnout in the state is “huge.”
Schumer makes no mention of blaming Republicans for delays. Various news outlets also reported the hot-mic moment was about the 2022 midterm elections, not blaming Republicans.
Biden’s remarks are largely inaudible in the clip.
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Paste BN has debunked other false claims involving Schumer, including that he called Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett “wildly out of the mainstream” and that a video showed Texas Sen. John Cornyn asking the Supreme Court to remove Schumer from office.
Paste BN reached out to the user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
PolitiFact also debunked the claim.
Our fact-check sources:
- CNN, Oct. 28, 2022, Schumer: Georgia Senate race ‘going downhill’ but Pennsylvania debate ‘didn’t hurt us too much’
- Wall Street Journal, Oct. 28, 2022, Watch: Schumer Says Democrats Are ‘Going Downhill’ in Georgia on Hot Mic
- The New York Times, Oct. 27, 2022, Schumer Caught on Mic Forecasting Democrats’ Midterm Races
- Paste BN, Oct. 27, 2022, Schumer captured on hot mic telling Biden that Georgia Senate race is ‘going downhill’ for Democrats
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