CNN’s Berman Plays Montage for Schumer of Him Being Against Shutdowns: ‘That Was You Three Times’

BERMAN: “One of the things that Republicans are also doing, and they’re doing in the White House press briefing, with the running sound of Democrats talking about shutdowns in the past, including sound of you — this is the type of thing you’ve said about shutdowns in the past. Let’s listen.”
[Clip starts]
Schumer: “What if I persuaded my caucus to say I’m going to shut the government down? I’m going to not pay our bills unless I get my way. It’s a politics of idiocy, of confrontation, of paralysis. (...) Shutting down government over a policy difference is self-defeating. (...) We can never hold American workers hostage again. (...) While the CR bill is very bad, the potential for a shutdown has consequences for America that are much, much worse. (...) Therefore, I will vote to keep the government open and not shut it down.”
[Clip ends]
BERMAN: “That was you three times in the past. Go ahead. What’s different this time?” [crosstalk]
Schumer: “That was — yeah, that was in March, John, before they had done these horrible things to health care, before they had introduced these rescissions, which would allow them to ignore the budget process. And the bottom line is, when I was majority leader, we had 13 times to vote on a budget. Do you know why there was no shutdown? We sat and negotiated with the Republicans every time. They got some things. We got some things. They did not negotiate at all. They refused, despite repeated entreaties by Hakeem and me, to go to the White House, to sit down with Thune and Johnson. Look, if you want to know who wants a shutdown, look at the House. Johnson had the House adjourned all this week.
BERMAN: “So —“
Schumer: “So they couldn’t even — even if the Senate had come up with a solution, they couldn’t vote on it. But now that they’ve seen they can’t bludgeon us, they can’t roll us, hopefully they’re going to sit down and negotiate and negotiate now, not kick the can down the road, which they’ve done.”
BERMAN: “Got it.”
Schumer: “It’s been 45 days, 45 days, 45 days, and they’ve never done anything.”