Former NBC News star Chuck Todd blasted Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday after the New York Democrat repeatedly refused to answer questions about what he knew regarding former President Joe Biden’s rapidly declining mental decline.
Todd blamed Democrats for covering up Biden’s mental health, deflecting from himself and his colleagues in the mainstream media that willingly played along.
The exchange occurred on CNN’s “The Arena With Kasie Hunt” when host Hunt pressed Schumer about revelations from an upcoming book by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’ Alex Thompson titled “Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again.”
“Did you really not have any idea that he was not fit to serve a second term?” Hunt asked Schumer, referencing an Oval Office meeting the senator had with Biden last year.
Schumer sidestepped the question, responding, “Kasie, we’re looking forward. We have the largest Medicaid cut in front of us. We have the whole federal government at risk—”
Hunt interrupted, “But you’re facing all of this because you lost a presidential election. And is that not Joe Biden’s responsibility for deciding to run again?”
“We’re looking forward,” Schumer repeated.
“That’s it?” Hunt asked.
“That’s it,” Schumer confirmed.
As the interview concluded, Hunt turned to her panel saying, “Chuck Todd, go.” Todd immediately unleashed a blistering critique of Schumer and Democratic leadership.
“He is among the people that are responsible for this. The leaders of the Democratic Party, the staff of the White House,” Todd said. “And I have to say, I find everybody now talking to these authors, get out of here. Go home. You’re part of the problem. Now you tell us?”
“The reason why the Democratic Party has less credibility today, here’s an unpopular president, and the Democratic Party has a worse rating than the Republican Party with this catastrophic governance that we’ve seen over the last 120 days. And yet, why is the Democratic Party in worse shape?” Todd said. ” Because of this distrust. Because of this, frankly, what the public feels as if the party leadership let them down and let them let this happen.”
“He’s as responsible as anybody else,” Todd added. “He was a leader in the party. He could’ve said something sooner, and he didn’t.”
The forthcoming book reportedly details Biden’s significant cognitive struggles while president and the obvious cover-up by his staff to try and hide it from the public.
According to one quote from a former top aide, “We attempted to shield him from his own staff so many people didn’t realize the extent of the decline beginning in 2023.”
Biden ultimately dropped his reelection bid in July following his disastrous debate performance against President Donald Trump, where at one point Biden declared, “We finally beat Medicare.”
In February 2024, Schumer defended Biden and dismissed concerns about his abilities as “right-wing propaganda.” In June, he posted on social media that the president was “in command and impressive” in meetings.
However, The New York Times reported that Schumer was among several Democratic leaders who privately forced Biden to exit the race following his debate performance.
A balding Chuck Todd rips Senator Chuck Schumer for "covering up" President Biden's mental decline.
"Go home. You’re part of the problem. Now you tell us?"
Lmao what a fraud. This guy and his friends in the media covered up Biden's obvious mental decline for four years and then… pic.twitter.com/0U1TD1jLhe
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) May 13, 2025