Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Thursday he's proud of the peaceful protesters in his hometown of New York City and is glad that so many young people are participating, but that the violent incidents that have occurred should be condemned.
"The overwhelming majority of protesters in New York, tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands, are peaceful protesters," the New York Democrat said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." "Often, New York is the conscience of the nation. We lead the country to realize our faults and to try and change them."
But while some think young people can be "apathetic," that is not the case.
"They're looking at what is the poison of America, which has been racism and racial division, which has been with us for centuries, and saying, 'We must change it,'" said Schumer, adding that President Donald Trump "wants us to believe every protester is a danger."
"That's why he has to fire rubber bullets at families in Lafayette Park," said Schumer. "In fact, our country is a nation of protesters. The patriots were protesters, created our country because of it."
Meanwhile, Schumer said he thinks retired Gen. James Mattis, Trump's first defense secretary, was "amazing" with his critique of Trump's actions.
"I know Gen. Mattis," said Schumer. "He's very reluctant to do this. But I think he was doing two things. One, he was sending a shot across the bow to the military leaders: 'Don't let this president, who would try to be as dictatorial as he could be, use you.'"
Second, Schumer said that Mattis was telling the military and America that protesters are something to be proud about in America.
"His condemnation of President Trump was right on the money, at a time when so many Americans, and we're not just talking about any political party or region, but the vast majority of Americans are longing for somebody to bring us together," said Schumer.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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