Thousands of protesters gathered outside Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's (D-N.Y.) home in New York on Tuesday night, demanding he take a stronger stand against President Donald Trump's cabinet nominees.
Roughly 3,000 people amassed at Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn around 6:00pm, then marched to Schumer's apartment near Prospect Park, waving signs that read, "Show Some Spine, Schumer" and "Resist Trump," and chanting, "Wake up, Chuck!" and "Filibuster every bill! Filibuster everything!"
Senate Democrats have been the target of numerous protests and demonstrations since Trump's inauguration, as watchdog groups and activists accused them of being too soft on the president's controversial appointees.
"Resistance means resisting," Daily Kos founder and publisher Markos Moulitsas wrote last week in response to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) voting in favor of Ben Carson as chief of the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Department, even after unyieldingly questioning his qualifications during confirmation hearings.
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But Trump's opponents have their eyes set particularly on Schumer, who as Senate Minority Leader has a unique opportunity to set an example for other Democrats, they say.
"The Senate is the best chance of stopping some of the worst stuff that Trump is doing. Chuck Schumer can do a lot to stop Trump, but he needs to stand up and do it," one protester, David Jeorg from Brooklyn, told WNYC on Tuesday.
Brad Wolchansky, from Flatbush, told the New York Post, "Senator Schumer needs to know we're watching him. He works for us. We need him to be bold. We need him to stand up to Trump and oppose his picks."
Schumer has said he would oppose at least eight of Trump's nominees, but he has already approved three of the president's picks—General James Mattis for the Department of Defense, General John Kelly for the Department of Homeland Security, and Mike Pompeo for the CIA.
Cambra Moniz-Edwards of Brooklyn told the Post, "He's talking the talk on social media, but is he walking the walk? What the fuck, Chuck?"
