MSNBC host Symone Sanders-Townsend declared that she was quitting the Democratic Party due to Minority Leader Chuck Schumer siding with Republicans on the latest spending bill during a live segment on her show The Weekend.
Sanders-Townsend had previously worked as a press secretary for Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is registered as an Independent but caucuses with Democrats, and as a senior adviser to both former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris, but claimed she was "about to change my registration to independent, first and foremost" after Schumer folded "like a paper napkin" to President Donald Trump and the Republican-majority Congress.
“There’s actually little that the Senate minority leader can say, and the 10 Democrats that voted with the Republicans can say, to appease somebody like me,” Sanders Townsend said to her show's panelists.
Sanders-Townsend's stance is the latest public example of a growing rift within the Democratic Party. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who served as former Vice President Harris' running mate, claimed the party "wouldn't be in this mess" if they had defeated Trump in the 2024 Presidential Election while appearing on MSNBC's All In With Chris Hayes last Wednesday (March 12).
“We have to make sure that Americans know its just not that Donald Trump is bad, but that we’re offering something better,” he added.
Sanders-Townsend's frustration also came days after her colleague, MSNBC host Lawrence O'Donnell announced he was taking a week off due to what he said was exhaustion caused by President Trump's administration.