Did Sen. Schumer Disrespect Indiana Voters?

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is catching flack for his off-the-cuff comment about Indiana and North Dakota.

(Washington) - The Democratic leader in the U.S. Senate is getting heat for taking a jab at Indiana during a knock-down, drag-out meeting with President Donald Trump Tuesday.

Senate Democrat Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democrat Leader Nancy Pelosi were part of a meeting with Trump and Vice President Mike Pence in the Oval Office. The group discussed funding for a border wall and the conversation quickly turned to an no holds barred argument.

“We won the Senate,” said Trump, responding to Pelosi’s statement about American voters flipping the House of Representatives to Democrat control in November’s election.

“When the president brags he won North Dakota and Indiana, he’s in real trouble,” Schumer, a Democrat from New York, chimed in.

“I did. We did win North Dakota and Indiana,” Trump followed.

Schumer is now being accused of being dismissive of Indiana’s voters. Indiana Republican Party president Kyle Hupfer says it shows Democrats like Nancy Pelosi and Schumer don’t care about Indiana.

“When it comes election time, Democrats like to pretend that they care about Hoosiers,” said Hupfer. “But then they go to Washington and treat us like the punchline of their joke, just like Chuck Schumer did today.”

Indiana voters last month unseated Democratic incumbent Senator Joe Donnelly in favor of Republican businessman Mike Braun. Flipping the seat helped Republicans gain two seats for their Senate majority.

The GOP, however, lost its majority in the House. Democrats will take control in 2019.

As the meeting continued, Trump threatened to shut down the federal government if Congress does not approve full funding for a wall along the 1,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border.

“We’re going to get the wall built and we’ve built a lot of wall already,” said the president.

Schumer said afterwards that Trump’s temper tantrum will not get him a wall.

“The bottom line is simple. The President has made clear he wants shutdown…We want border security…but Americans know The Wall, which will not be paid for by Mexico any more, is not the way to border security, and experts know that.”