Over the weekend, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, referring to a story of a veteran from Rochester, New York, who had reportedly committed suicide because he couldn’t pay his mortgage, tweeted, “We recently learned the tragically sad story of a veteran in the Rochester region. When he stopped receiving increased unemployment insurance, he couldn’t pay his mortgage and heartbreakingly committed suicide. I just demanded we pass suicide prevention acts.”
Schumer reportedly left the tweet, which was termed “horribly tone deaf,” up for hours before deleting it.
Chuck @SenSchumer finally deleted this horribly tone deaf tweet. Amazing that he left this mess up for 24 hours. pic.twitter.com/i6SPcznIPI
— Matt Poldberg 🍍 (@NotSpamIpromise) October 25, 2020
Schumer’s focus on suicide prevention rather than addressing the heart of the matter, the Democrats’ refusal to pass a coronavirus relief bill so the veteran could have gotten the money he needed, dovetails with House Speaker Nancy struggling with answering questions as to why the Democrats are stalling relief.
Appearing with Jake Tapper on CNN on Sunday, Pelosi denied that the White House had moved closer to her position on a relief bill, insisting, “They keep moving the goalposts. They — every time they say we move the goalposts, that means they’re projecting what they did.”
Tapper argued, “But it just seems like they keep moving closer and closer.” Pelosi flippantly replied, “They don’t.”
Tapper countered, “I get that you’re waiting for it on paper. But it just seems like, you’re winning. I mean, that’s what it seems like to me. I’m looking at all the things that the White House is moving forward to your position on. And it seems like you could take yes for an answer.”
Tapper pointed out, “Three Democratic governors in the Midwest, Whitmer of Michigan, Evers of Wisconsin, and Walz of Minnesota, three Democratic governors wrote to you, President Trump, and other congressional leaders saying, among other things — quote — ‘We implore you to put differences aside and agree to another much needed COVID-19 relief bill.’ In addition, one of your own members, Congressman Max Rose, said this week that the Democratic Party needs to learn, to a certain extent, how to declare victory and go home. You’re getting a lot of messages from Democrats saying: This is good enough. We need to say yes.”
Pelosi: “Welcome to my world. That is not a lot of messages, although I respect each and every one of them. … We all want an agreement. Nobody wants it more than the House Democrats.”
On October 17, Pelosi gave the Trump administration 48 hours to address issues with a second coronavirus relief bill. The deadline followed the speaker’s refusal to seriously address a second round of relief. “Earlier this month, Pelosi held a vote on a $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief package that received zero Republican votes and even lost 18 Democrat votes,” The Daily Wire reported. “Democrats even messaged Pelosi and asked her to accept the Trump administration’s $1.6 trillion offer.”