Amna Nawaz
@PBSNewsHour·5.3M subscribers·62.2K videos
WATCH: Beto O'Rourke calls on Democratic Party to 'fight back'
Posted
July 23, 2025
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July 23, 2025
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2:01Now PlayingFormer Rep. Beto O'Rourke called on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to leave Democratic leadership to give way to new leaders.
"I think if we learned nothing else from 2024, the old idea that Democrats need to care more about each other's feelings and seniority, and making sure that that no one is denied the opportunity for leadership that they've been waiting for, that has not worked for us," he told (AMNA'S HANDLE) Monday on the PBS News Hour. "We need to deliver, and we need to be absolutely clear about that. And if he's not getting that done, time to get out of the way and for someone else to step up and lead."
He also criticized Schumer for voting in favor of a short-term funding bill earlier this year to prevent a government shutdown. Many Democratic members of Congress criticized Schumer, arguing that the bill legitimized President Donald Trump's policies and the Department of Government Efficiency's efforts to dismantle key parts of the federal government. Schumer argued that while he thought the legislation, called a continuing resolution, was "a bad bill," letting Trump "take even much more power via a government shutdown is a far worse option."
O'Rourke, who represented Texas in the House from 2013-2019 before mounting unsuccessful runs for Senate, president and governor, said people "want to see us fight for our fellow Americans, fight back against everything that is illegal and corrupt and incompetent in this administration and fight to win power, and then use it to deliver for the American people."
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