WASHINGTON — Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer offered a notably restrained show of support for Michigan Senate candidate Dr. Abdul El-Sayed shortly after the progressive contender publicly argued that Schumer should no longer lead Senate Democrats.
El-Sayed, who has built his campaign around an anti-establishment message, repeatedly criticized Schumer (D-NY) and called for new leadership at the top of the Democratic caucus. Schumer, meanwhile, had favored El-Sayed’s primary rival, Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.), who was defeated Tuesday by a narrow 1% margin.
“Look, at the end of the day, the current minority leader has given all of us ample reason to question whether or not he would be our best bet heading into a cycle where we might have the majority, and I think there’s absolutely room for change,” El-Sayed told The Post over the weekend.
El-Sayed has said he would prefer Sen. Chris Van Hollen to take over Schumer’s role, arguing that the Maryland Democrat would make “an amazing majority leader.”
“Chris Van Hollen would be perfect,” he told The Post.
For Democrats, the path to reclaiming control of the Senate now runs squarely through Michigan — and through El-Sayed’s general election campaign in November. That leaves party leaders rallying behind a nominee whose platform includes Medicare-for-All, abolishing ICE and cutting off funding to Israel.
Schumer and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairwoman Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) issued a joint statement saying they look “forward to working with Abdul and Democrats across Michigan to win this seat in November.”
The carefully worded statement appeared to function as an endorsement. A spokesperson for Gillibrand confirmed that it was, while Schumer’s office directed The Post to the DSCC, which did not respond. Schumer has used similarly cautious language before, including in the case of former Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner, before later making his support explicit.
“Schumer just wants to win,” one Democratic operative bluntly told The Post. “This isn’t his ideal candidate, but it’s probably enough to win the race this cycle in his mind. And El-Sayed needs the support to win. So they’ll make it work.”
El-Sayed and Schumer had a call after the Tuesday primary, which the Senate Democratic honcho described as a “great conversation.”
“What people don’t understand is that a big tent is a strength, not a weakness,” Schumer told Punchbowl News. “It’s how you build a majority.”
“The issue is not me,” he added at another point when pressed on El-Sayed’s comments about him. “The issue is doing what working families want and showing clear distinction between the parties and showing the road to victory.”
But both sides are keen on presenting a united front to take on Republican Mike Rogers, with El-Sayed participating in unity events this week with Stevens, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and others.
“Schumer and the DSCC support the candidates who are best positioned to win the majority and, barring a major scandal, they always back the primary winner,” one Dem strategist told The Post.
“They are single-mindedly focused on winning races, regardless of Schumer’s personal politics with a given candidate. That’s leadership.”
Schumer previously distanced himself from the ever-growing socialist movement, but says the Democratic Party will utilize a “big tent” approach to win back the Senate in the midterms. He’s also defended moderates like Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), who has bucked the progressive wing of his party with his stanch support of Israel.
The unease between mainstream Democrats like Schumer and the far-left cuts both ways. Still, the two aren’t alone in turning the page on the bruising primary fight.
“We supported Stevens because she had the best chance to hold the seat. Now, primary voters have spoken,” Brian Lemek, the executive director of Defend the Vote PAC, told The Post. “There’s still work to do, but it appears that Democrats are unifying, which will be necessary to win this race.”
El-Sayed has also begun largely pivoting away from his attacks on the Democratic establishment and turned his attention to Rogers, teeing up a very nasty political fight.
“Our candidates are not all the same. There’s different backgrounds. They’re from different states,” Schumer stressed to Punchbowl News. “But they have one shared mission — winning the Senate and delivering for working families. And so we’re really on a strong foot.”
Notably, El-Sayed didn’t completely rule out the possibility of ultimately backing Schumer, when pressed repeatedly by The Post, if it came down to a choice between the Brooklyn native and, say, Israel-supporting Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.).
“A vote is a choice between two or more options. I don’t know what other options are. If it happened to be a guy named John Fetterman from Pennsylvania, or Chuck Schumer, well then, I’d make a different decision,” the lefty Democrat said.
