[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 176 (Tuesday, November 15, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S6678]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           MIDTERM ELECTIONS

  Mr. SCHUMER. Now, Mr. President, on the midterm elections and MAGA 
Republicanism, over the past week, there has been a lot of discussion 
here in Washington and across the media about how the results of these 
midterms defied history and defied conventional wisdom.
  I remember back in April and May: No way Democrats are going to keep 
the majority. They are going to lose a whole bunch of seats. People are 
asking what happened. Well, I think the answer, however, is rather 
simple. This year, Democrats ran strong candidates. We compiled an 
extremely strong legislative record, which the candidates could run on. 
And Republicans, on the other hand, ran with flawed candidates who 
spent more time talking about MAGA extremism than the things that truly 
mattered to the American people.
  After the failures--Republican failures--in elections in 2018 and 
2020 and now in 2022, I hope the message is sinking in. If Republicans 
continue to embrace MAGA radicalism, they are going to keep losing. So 
for their own sake, but more importantly for the sake of the country, I 
hope that very soon the GOP rejects the MAGA wing and makes a 
commitment to work with Democrats in the next Congress.
  The worst thing Republicans can do right now is to double down on the 
MAGA platform and embrace gridlock. But, sadly, it seems that is the 
path that some on the other side still want to take.
  In fact, Senator Rick Scott of Florida, who notoriously led the 
unsuccessful Republican Senate campaign efforts, recently suggested 
that one of the reasons Republicans lost on election day was because 
they actually worked too much with Democrats to pass bipartisan 
legislation; that they weren't MAGA enough. That defies all logic.
  If Republicans want to follow Rick Scott's lead, make our day. 
Following Senator Scott is like following a blind man right over the 
cliff.
  Remember, it was Senator Scott who released a platform calling for 
tax hikes on working and middle Americans, which our candidates 
reminded people of in the election over and over again. It was Senator 
Scott who threatened to put Medicare and Social Security on the 
chopping block, which, again, was one of the most powerful arguments 
for why Republicans were wrong for the country. And it was Senator 
Scott who embraced Trump and believed that the MAGA wing was the road 
to success; that denying the elections and spreading the Big Lie, 
encouraging the MAGA extreme wing was the right thing to do. The 
American people knew better.
  American voters ran in the opposite direction and voted for 
Democrats, including many Republicans, who said: I may be a Reagan 
Republican, I may be a Bush Republican, but this Republican Party ain't 
one for me.
  After three failed elections--three in a row--it should be obvious 
that embracing MAGA is a total loser for the Republican Party. If 
anyone thinks otherwise, just look at what happened last night in 
purple Arizona. Katie Hobbs, the Democratic nominee for Governor, was 
declared the winner in her race against Kari Lake. Everyone thought 
Kari Lake would win because of her communication skills, but even she 
lost--proof positive that MAGA just doesn't work.
  I earnestly hope that in the next couple of months, Republicans will 
realize it is better for the country--and even better for their party--
to focus instead on working with Democrats over the next 2 years to get 
things done for the American people.
  Now, I know this is not going to happen overnight or in the next week 
or two. Our immediate focus, of course, is the lameduck, where there is 
a lot of work to be done. But when the dust settles come January and 
Republicans have, hopefully, resolved some of their own internal 
fights, we hope that at least some of them will realize that the 
scorched-earth MAGA policy is a failure not only for America but for 
them.
  The usual pundits and skeptics and critics are saying: Oh, this won't 
happen. But look at the major bills we did this summer, five of them 
major bills, bipartisan, and before that, the BIF bill, the Postal 
bill, all done bipartisan--significant legislation. We Democrats are 
going to work hard to replicate that effort.
  Americans are tired of the chaos. They are tired of the MAGA 
insanity. They are tired of the MAGA attack on the very roots of our 
democracy. They want leaders who will take their problems seriously. 
Most Americans know that Donald Trump is out for himself and only 
himself, even if it hurts democracy, even if it hurts the Republican 
Party. Republicans should learn that lesson or risk even more failure 
in the future.

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