Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) congratulated President-elect Donald Trump and told Democrats to learn from their mistakes in his response to the 2024 presidential election results on the Senate floor on Tuesday.
“It was not the result many of us wanted, but we live in a democracy where the will of the people is respected and followed, and the American people have spoken,” he said.
Schumer said he looked forward to working with Trump and praised Vice President Kamala Harris for running “a historic campaign.”
“They can be proud of the incredible work their team has done over the last four months,” he said. “The values Vice President Harris ran on will live on: individual freedom, opportunity for all, and working together to build a safer, stronger nation.”
Schumer told Democrats upset about Trump’s win that it’s “natural and appropriate to feel deep disappointment, grief, and even anger in this moment.”
“I understand those feelings,” he said. “It never feels good to come up short, but when you do, you get up, you dust yourself off, you learn, and prepare to do better in the future.”
Related Stories
Schumer proposed studying “what occurred” and paying attention to what voters want.
He added that Democrats should see their defeat as a challenge presented by the American people, but not as a defeat.
“We have to look at what we did right, what we did wrong, and what we didn’t do but should have done,” he said.
Referencing allegations that the 2020 presidential election was rigged, he said he hopes those claims can “rest that fantasy.”
“Four years ago, the losing side refused to accept the will of the people, and it led to a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol,” he said. “This year, we will not go down that dark and violent path.”
‘We Hoped For a Better Result’
On Republicans taking control of the Senate, Schumer said, “We hoped for a better result.“As happens from time to time, control of this chamber will change from one party to the other,” he said.
He lauded Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), both of whom were ousted by Trump-endorsed candidates Tim Sheehy and Bernie Moreno, respectively.
“We could not be prouder of the races you ran,” Schumer said. “More importantly, we could not be prouder of the legacy you have built in the United States Senate. You are some of the finest people I’ve ever worked with in this chamber.”
When Democrats were in the majority, Schumer said the country “had its most successful and productive year.”
“Under our watch, this chamber became a place where we got things done, amazing things done,” he said. “We passed bold legislation that lifted America out of crisis, rebuilt our economy, and invested in good-paying jobs.”
He referenced the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the chamber’s support of Ukraine.
“These accomplishments will continue to pay off for years and decades to come, and I’m proud that the vast majority of our accomplishments were done in a bipartisan fashion,” he said.
‘A Difficult Moment’
Schumer asked Republicans to abandon partisanship in the wake of their win.“We’ve seen that happen over the decades, and it’s consistently backfired on the party in power,” he said. “So, instead of going to the extremes, I remind my colleagues that this body is most effective when it’s bipartisan.”
In closing, he addressed Democrats reeling over the loss, admitting that “this is a difficult moment.”
“But as John F. Kennedy once said, ‘Let us not despair, but act.’”
