Brazile warns of tough leadership fight ahead for Jeffries, Schumer

Campaign Brazile warns of tough leadership fight ahead for Jeffries, Schumer Comments: by Sarah Davis - 08/06/26 12:59 PM ET Comments: Link copied by Sarah Davis - 08/06/26 12:59 PM ET Comments: Link copied

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Former Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Donna Brazile issued a warning to the Democratic leadership on Wednesday after populist Abdul El-Sayed scored a narrow victory in the party’s Senate primary in Michigan this week.

Brazile said on SiriusXM’s “Straight Shooter with Stephen A.” that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) will have to “fight for their leadership roles” after the November elections.

“They’re going to have to fight really hard to convince the Elizabeth Warrens, the Cory Bookers, the Chris Van Hollens,” Brazile said, referring to those with ideologies aligned with these three Democratic senators.

El-Sayed is part of a new wave of Democratic candidates this election cycle expressing frustration with their party’s political establishment. Several democratic socialist and progressive candidates have successfully ousted incumbent Democrats in primary elections across the country and called for Schumer’s replacement.

The Michigan progressive has criticized Schumer and said he would back Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) as minority leader if he is elected to the Senate in November.

Schumer, who supported El-Sayed’s Democratic opponent, Rep. Haley Stevens (Mich.), endorsed El-Sayed following his victory earlier this week.

In a joint statement with Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chair Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Schumer expressed confidence in El-Sayed’s ability to beat former GOP Rep. Mike Rogers (Mich.) in November.

“Democrats are united by a common purpose: putting a check on Donald Trump by defeating his Republican enablers and taking back the Senate,” the lawmakers wrote. “We look forward to working with Abdul and Democrats across Michigan to win this seat in November.”

The Schumer-aligned Senate Majority PAC also released a glowing endorsement video in support of El-Sayed’s Senate bid set to the soundtrack of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’.”

The progressive candidate told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins that he spoke with Schumer over the phone after the Michigan race was called on Wednesday.

“At this point, I’m the only Democrat standing to come to the inside of the U.S. Senate, and I think we had a good, meaningful, heart-to-heart conversation about what it takes to win in a state like Michigan and what needs to be done to defeat Mike Rogers,” El-Sayed said.

“So I’m looking forward to partnering alongside him to win the Senate majority … to keep the state of Michigan and to win back the gavel for Democrats so that we can start holding [President] Donald Trump accountable,” he continued.