Senator Eric Schmitt, the Republican from Missouri, says it’s all out battle with Democrats right now, saying they’ve turned themselves into “legislative terrorists” and that the days when bipartisanship was possible are gone.
“This is a new world. This is a different era,” Schmitt said in a wide-ranging interview on the political landscape. “This isn’t Ted Kennedy working with somebody on some bill; they’re legislative terrorists at this point.”
Schmitt said he expects Democrat leadership to find a way to shut down the government again before the midterm elections in November, arguing that Chuck Schumer “hears the footsteps” of fellow New York Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and needs to prove to his base that he’s a fighter.
“They’re going to shut it down,” Schmitt said.
Schmitt said the new landscape is perfectly timed with the Supreme Court’s ruling curbing race-based redistricting has reshaped the midterm election landscape, urging Republicans to go on offense and challenge congressional maps in blue states as Democrats hope to ride voter frustration over affordability to the ballot box.
Schmitt said the high court’s decision “opens up a much larger front” for targeting Democratic-led states like California and Illinois.
The former Missouri Attorney General, has called on the Department of Justice to sue California, arguing the voter-approved maps illegally relied on race to likely gain five blue seats.
“I view it as all upside because the Democrats have been doing this forever,” Schmitt said to reporters, including The Daily Wire, noting that no Republicans represent the New England area in Congress.
Schmitt argued that the nationwide push to redraw maps in red states, combined with the Trump administration’s deportation efforts, reflects a more aggressive Republican Party.
“They understand that their political power is a real risk,” Schmitt said. “Just listen to [House Minority Leader] Hakeem Jeffries. I mean, this guy sounds like totally unhinged about how they will approach this.”
Last Friday, the Virginia Supreme Court invalidated a state referendum that would likely have allowed Democrats to pick up five blue seats, delivering a devastating setback to Democratic efforts to take back the House of Representatives.
In response, some Democrats, including Jeffries, have floated lowering the retirement age to replace the entire Virginia Supreme Court with new nominees aligned with their political goals, according to the New York Times. Governor Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) on Monday shot down the idea.
“I don’t know Hakeem Jeffries, I’m not a member of the House, but just watching him right now, he seems like [a] very desperate man because he thought he was going to be speaker,” Schmitt said. “I don’t know how everything’s going to play out, but this structural bias that they had for a long time over the next four to five years could be completely wiped out, and that’s a good thing.”
