Schumer compares Mitch McConnell to Herbert Hoover, calls Obamagate a 'discredited conspiracy theory'

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., criticized his Republican colleagues on Thursday, claiming they were wrong to focus on Obamagate, which he called a discredited conspiracy theory, during the coronavirus pandemic.

"For the Senate and President Trump to spend time on this when we have a COVID crisis is just absolutely absurd," he said during an interview on "The View." "We should be focusing on helping people through this crisis, not pursuing already discredited conspiracy theories."

Co-host Meghan McCain had asked Schumer whether he could say with 100 percent certainty that Obamagate — alleging that former President Obama worked to undermine Trump — was a conspiracy theory.

Schumer defended Obama by indicating that he appropriately responded to concerns about Russian interference in the 2016 elections.

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"Well, I didn’t say it," he said. "17 intelligence agencies — these are nonpartisan. These are people who have risked their lives for us, CIA, NSA. They said it. This came from the Russians who wanted to divert attention for what they did."

His interview came as President Trump pressured Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to move quickly to hold Obama administration officials accountable for allegedly abusing their power in the Russia investigation.

"Time is running out. Get tough and move quickly, or it will be too late," he tweeted on Saturday. "The Dems are vicious, but got caught. They MUST pay a big price for what they have done to our Country. Don’t let them get away with this!"

Schumer also claimed that McConnell was leaving Americans high and dry by delaying passage of the latest coronavirus stimulus package. Co-host Joy Behar had asked him about McConnell's comment that the House's stimulus package — which McConnell has described as a "liberal wish list"  — was "dead on arrival" in the Senate.

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"He's in an alternative universe, unfortunately," Schumer said, arguing McConnell was wrong to suggest there wasn't an immediate need for more relief.

"An immediate need — when you look at the TV stations and the news and you see miles of people lined up in cars to go to food pantries and then the news media interviews them and they say, 'I’ve never had to do this before, but I need to feed my family,'" Schumer said.

"When you find people evicted from their homes and from their apartments, when you find people still getting sick, so to say there’s no immediate need? You know who used to say things like this? Herbert Hoover," Schumer added, referring to the Great Depression-era president who was criticized for his handling of the economic collapse.

"When the stock market crash occurred, Herbert Hoover and some of his folks said, 'Oh, leave it alone. We don’t have to do anything,' and the Great Depression occurred. There are urgent and necessary needs right now."

McConnell, meanwhile, has accused House Democrats of wasting time on trying to attack President Trump.

“The House Democrats would rather spend a fourth consecutive year trying to cram their politics into the legal system than actually govern the country in a pandemic. Fortunately, as I laid out, the Senate is up to the job," he said earlier this week.

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“Every single day, the historic CARES Act that we wrote and passed to fight this pandemic continues to come online. Direct payments hit families’ accounts. Support for major industries helps prevent mass layoffs. Resources for doctors, nurses, hospitals, and health care providers help stabilize the system from coast to coast.

“And the Paycheck Protection Program has saved tens of millions of jobs for American workers. From big cities to small towns to industrial suburbs to farm country, Senate Republicans’ bold program is turning potential pink-slips into paychecks every single day.