Schumer Is Not Going to Win if AOC Runs Against Him: Hugh Hewitt
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is watching the political ground shift beneath his feet, and the tremors from the recent “Schumer Shutdown” are only worsening his standing inside a Democratic Party that is rapidly abandoning its old guard. Analysts in Washington say the long-time New York senator is emerging from the standoff weakened, isolated, and facing the real possibility that his own party may push him toward the exits.
That sentiment was echoed by conservative commentator and law professor Hugh Hewitt, who told Fox News’ Trey Gowdy that Schumer would be politically doomed if Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez decides to challenge him in 2028.
“Before I let you go, I know you’re not a gambling man, but does Chuck Schumer survive this? I mean, it seems designed to insulate him from AOC, and if that was his goal, I don’t think it worked,” Gowdy asked during his Sunday program.
“I do think he survives it for a very selfish reason by the other Democrats. Nobody wants that job. Someone’s going to have to open the government again. He’s already got — he’s a pin cushion of arrows, so there’s nothing he can really lose,” Hewitt said, before making his prediction.
“He’s not going to win if AOC runs against him in 2028. I would not be surprised if he is announcing his retirement early in 2027 to clear the way. He’s been in government for 50-plus years. Sometimes it’s time to go home and there’s no reason not to use that if a guy has been beat up this badly, and boy, has he been beaten up pretty badly,” he added.
The New York Post editorial board offered a similar assessment last week, noting that rank-and-file Democrats are dispirited after shutting down the government for more than a month and achieving nothing. The board blasted Democrat lawmakers for bowing to their far-left activist base rather than negotiating in good faith with President Donald J. Trump’s administration.
“Democrats pointlessly kept the government shut down for 41 days (and still counting!), purely to satisfy their squalling left flank’s need to do something to ‘resist’ President Donald Trump,” the editorial said.
The piece noted the Democrats’ attempt to retroactively justify the shutdown by claiming it was about extending Affordable Care Act subsidies — subsidies they themselves set to expire years earlier. In reality, party activists simply wanted legislators to wage a political tantrum to appease the far-left donor class.
“It doesn’t matter that they’re near-powerless because they lost last year’s elections. That is, ‘saving democracy’ never had anything to do with respecting the wishes of the majority of voters; it always meant simply ‘Stop Orange Man!’” the editorial continued, emphasizing that Democrats were willing to harm the country rather than allow President Trump’s policies to continue delivering results.
Within the Democratic caucus, anger toward Schumer has boiled over. Even members of his own House delegation are signaling they want him out.
“Sen. Schumer is no longer effective and should be replaced,” declared Rep. Ro Khanna.
Rumors have been circulating for months that Ocasio-Cortez is considering a primary challenge. Many observers believe Schumer’s decision to keep the government shut down so long was a desperate attempt to placate her faction. But if she runs, early data suggests he may be in serious trouble.
According to a new CNN analysis, Schumer’s approval rating has now fallen to the lowest level for any Democratic Senate leader since at least 1985 — a dangerous position for a politician facing an increasingly radicalized electorate.
For a Democratic Party sprinting leftward, Chuck Schumer may soon discover that decades of seniority offer no protection from the political revolution his own party helped create.