Chuck Schumer Fans the Flames When Asked About ‘Confidence’ in Dianne Feinstein’s Cognitive Abilities – Opinion

Rumors have been swirling since the looming September 2020 confirmation battle over Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court that Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D-Calif.) mental health has been steadily deteriorating, with some in the Democratic Caucus questioning her ability to continue to serve in the office she’s held since 1992.

A story filed by Politico at the time stated that “Interviews with more than a dozen Democratic senators and aides show widespread concern over whether” she was “capable of leading the aggressive effort Democrats need against whoever President Donald Trump picks to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.”

According to the news outlet, Feinstein is also considered the oldest U.S. Senator. Senator at 88-years-old, “sometimes gets confused by reporters’ questions, or will offer different answers to the same question depending on where or when she’s asked.”

More recently, the San Francisco Chronicle brought the issue to light again after reporting that “[f]Three Democrats are represented by our U.S. senators as well three ex-Felistein staffers, and one California Democratic member. [they spoke to] told The Chronicle in recent interviews that her memory is rapidly deteriorating.”

The reports were denied by Feinstein and her staff. Though Feinstein admitted to The Chronicle that she did forget the name of a member of Congress at a recent event, she blamed it on the February death of her husband Richard Blum, telling them she’d had a “rough year” and that he was “the second husband I’ve lost to cancer.”

Sen. Majority Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) was asked point-blank Tuesday if he’d had any other Senators privately express concerns to him about Feinstein. He said he hadn’t. He didn’t. But, when asked if he felt confident in his abilities, Schumer, clearly uneasy, raised eyebrows. His response to the question of whether he believed she could continue serving Californians in Congress, was not a positive one.

“I’ve had a good number of discussions with Sen. Feinstein, but I’m keeping them to myself,” Schumer stated before quickly pivoting to another reporter.

Watch:

REPORTER: …a report…raised questions about Sen. Feinstein’s memory…Have any…senators approached you about this and are you confident in her ability to serve?

SCHUMER (Non, they haven’t). I’ve had a good number of discussions with Sen. Feinstein but I’m keeping them to myself. pic.twitter.com/t4yu23vg7y

— JM Rieger (@RiegerReport) April 26, 2022

That is about as much of an admission as I think we’re going to get from Schumer that the rumors about Feinstein are true, at least ahead of any possible – if ever – announcements from her office directly on the subject matter. I mean, he could have answered “yes” or “no” and put the issue to bed at least for the time being. But he didn’t. He’s choosing to keep his discussions with her “private” and won’t say how he feels about her cognitive abilities.

As my colleague Bonchie wrote in a prior post, while some of this is obviously genuine concern being expressed about Feinstein, some of the rumormongering is also likely due to the fact that Feinstein has fallen out of favor with the “woke” wing of the Democratic in recent years, including when she signaled in 2020 that she was against nuking the filibuster as well as when she praised and hugged Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) after the Barrett hearings. Graham ranks third behind Sens. Ted Cruz (R.Texas) & Josh Hawley(R.Mo. as the least hated Republican in Senate, according to Democrat activists.