Last week brought us the first 100 days of President Donald Trump’s first 100 days. Among those Democrats using it as yet another occasion to deride the president included Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who dared to call out Trump’s poll numbers, while seemingly not concerted about his own.
During a recent press conference, Schumer had the audacity to call out how “Trump has the lowest 100 day approval rating since they started polling.” Trump certainly has room for improvement, and that improvement could come, especially if tariffs do work out. It’s also worth reminding that Trump’s successor/predecessor, President Joe Biden, finished his term with particularly poor numbers.
Biden isn’t the only one in the Democratic Party who fared so poorly, though. The party overall is in significant disarray. Those same polls that the mainstream media and Democrats like to harp on when it comes to Trump’s numbers show worse news for the Democrats. This includes Schumer.
When Schumer was taking questions from reporters, one of those to speak was CNN’s Manu Raju. “There’s a poll out today that has your approval rating lower than any other Congressional leader at 17 percent,” he brought up. “Are you concerned that you may be a liability for your party?”
Raju was referring to a CNN poll, where the headline of the write-up sure enough began by focusing on Trump, but also referenced how “Frustrated Americans… have dim views of Democratic opposition.”
The 17 percent of Americans polled saying the have a favorable opinion of Schumer is the lowest rating for the Democratic leader since the question was asked in January 2017. The 44 percent saying they have an unfavorable opinion of Schumer is the highest it’s been.
How did Schumer respond when being confronted with such a painful reality? He dismissed the results. “Polls come and go,” he even said. “Our party is united, we’re on our front foot, we’re stepping forward, we’re going after Trump and having real success,” Schumer went on to stress, gesturing for emphasis before calling on another reporter.
Same Presser:
Schumer: “Trump has the lowest 100 day approval rating since they started polling.”
2 Minutes later.
Manu Raju: “There’s a poll out today that has your approval rating lower than any other Congressional leader at 17 percent.”
Schumer: “Polls come and go.” pic.twitter.com/aMNc0Su667
— Carmine Sabia (@CarmineSabia) April 30, 2025
Schumer may wish to appear confident, but what he’s saying isn’t exactly the case. If he really believes that “polls come and go,” then he could say the same thing about Trump. But, this CNN poll, like so many others, brings bad news for Democrats, and Leader Schumer especially.
As the write-up mentions:
But there is little sign that this disgruntled public is ready to turn to Democrats instead. Approval ratings for Democratic leaders in Congress are even lower (27% approve, a record low for the party in CNN polling back to 2008) and nearly half of adults (46%) say they disapprove of leaders from both parties. The top two Hill Democrats — House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer — are also underwater in favorability (20% favorable to 27% unfavorable for Jeffries; 17% favorable to 44% unfavorable for Schumer, his worst rating in CNN polling back to 2017).
…
Much of the Democratic image problem comes from dissatisfaction within their own ranks. While Republicans and Republican-leaning independents broadly approve of their congressional leadership (72% of GOP-aligned adults approve of the party’s congressional leaders), those who belong or lean toward the Democratic Party are deeply negative toward their party’s leadership: 61% disapprove and just 38% approve.
While Republican-aligned adults have grown more positive toward Johnson and Thune since January, Democrats and Democratic leaners have shifted more negative toward their own leaders. Jeffries’ favorability rating with that group slipped from net positive by 37 points to net positive by 31 points, with all of the change coming on the unfavorable side. And Schumer has lost significant ground among his own partisans, falling from a 46% favorable to 11% unfavorable rating in January to a 31% favorable vs. 30% unfavorable split now.
Although he has lost ground across the board, Schumer’s unpopularity within the party is notably high among the youngest Democratic-aligned adults, as he faces significant pressure to make way for younger leaders — particularly in the wake of his decision not to fight a GOP-backed spending bill in March. Among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents younger than 35, 14% have a favorable view and 24% an unfavorable one. Among those in the party aged 65 or older, though, impressions are widely net positive, 52% favorable to 22% unfavorable. In January, Democratic views of Schumer broke at least narrowly positive across all age groups.
Souring views of Democratic leaders come as anger with politics among the party’s rank-and-file generally has swelled: 70% of Democratic-aligned adults now say that they’re angry about national politics, up from 46% in January. Overall, about 45% of Americans say they’re angry about politics, up from 39% in January.
The write-up mentions Schumer’s vote to advance a continuing resolution (CR) back in March to avoid a government shutdown. Although he did not vote the bill’s final passage, he was still castigated by his fellow Democrats.
Further, his vote to advance, on a Friday, came after he had said on Wednesday that Re`publicans supposedly didn’t have enough votes to invoke cloture for the CR in the Senate, only to then cave and announce on Thursday he would vote to advance. This comes after he had even claimed the party was supposedly “unified” in opposition.
This CNN poll is hardly the only one to show bad news for not just Democrats, but Schumer in particular. Last month, a poll from Gallup showed that just 25 percent of Americans have confidence in Schumer’s handling of the economy, and that just 48 percent of his fellow Democrats do. CNN’s Harry Enten highlighted not long after how bad these numbers and more are for Schumer not long after, expressing particular shock and dismay.
Schumer may even lose his seat if he doesn’t retire first, given that a Data for Progress poll, released last month, show Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) with quite the significant lead over Schumer in a hypothetical primary.
Schumer was also confronted by his 17 percent by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, during which he tried to hide behind a similar response. Schumer answered with a quick “no,” that he was not concerned by those numbers, and then went on to claim Democrats were showing “a contrast” to Trump, as he made false claims and engaged in fearmongering.
As Collins continued to push Schumer, he came up with the same answers, such as how “it’s going to be a day in, day out process” and how “the polls come and go.” He even once more laughably claimed that “our caucus is united.”
Asked about new CNN polling that puts his favorable rating at 17%, his worst in CNN polling dating back to 2017, Sen. Schumer argues it will take time as Democrats show the contrast with President Trump. pic.twitter.com/T24Gvyo8Li
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) April 30, 2025
Collins also spoke to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who was not of the same mind. He even scoffed at Schumer.
“You need an agenda,” Sanders pointed out, asking, “Unite around what?”
Sen. Bernie Sanders responds to Sen. Schumer saying Democrats are united. “You need an agenda. United around what? Are we united around guaranteeing healthcare to all people? Are we united in tackling a corrupt campaign finance system?” pic.twitter.com/8EY93AZl3m
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) May 1, 2025
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