Sen. Dem. Ldr. Chuck Schumer | War Blames

Summary

Summary of "Sen. Dem. Ldr. Chuck Schumer | War Blames" Episode of The Late Show Pod Show with Stephen Colbert

Release Date: March 28, 2025

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Introduction

In this episode of The Late Show Pod Show with Stephen Colbert, host Stephen Colbert engages in a spirited and in-depth conversation with Senator Chuck Schumer, the highest-ranking Democrat in the United States Senate. The discussion spans a range of pressing political issues, including the recent scandal involving leaked classified information by Trump officials, the dynamics within the Democratic Party, and Schumer's newly released book, "Anti Semitism in America, A Warning." Throughout the episode, Colbert interjects his characteristic humor, challenging Schumer on various topics while eliciting insightful responses.

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Leaked Classified Information Scandal

Timestamp [01:00 - 07:11]

The episode opens with Stephen Colbert addressing the unfolding fourth-day scandal involving top Trump officials who reportedly shared classified plans to attack Yemen within an unsecured chat group known as the "Houthi chat." Colbert humorously mocks Secretary Pete Hegseth's involvement:

Stephen Colbert [02:04]: "He is a very good man. Very good man right there. Very good man. He broke my heart, but he's a very good man."

Colbert continues to rib Mike Waltz, a Trump official implicated in the leak, depicting him as an incompetent figure destined for further mishaps:

Stephen Colbert [02:38]: "This scandal won't be going away anytime soon because Mike Waltz has made a key strategic error being an idiot everywhere at all times."

The discussion highlights the severity of the breach, referencing a Der Spiegel investigation that exposed private data, including mobile numbers and passwords of high-ranking security officials like Waltz and Hegseth. Colbert underscores the incompetence by noting:

Stephen Colbert [07:12]: "I don't think we should trust these people with anything top secret. Hell, I don't think we should trust these people with anything pop secret."

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Impact on Government Operations and Democratic Response

Timestamp [07:12 - 12:41]

Colbert shifts the focus to how the leak affects government operations, particularly criticizing the Trump administration's handling of Women's History Month:

Stephen Colbert [07:12]: "Yesterday, Trump held an event at the White House celebrating Women's History Month. The theme was Please talk about anything other than Pete Hegseth. It was wall to wall weird."

The conversation delves into legislative actions, with Colbert highlighting bizarre and restrictive laws proposed in states like Florida and Texas. He mocks Florida's attempt to lift child labor laws:

Stephen Colbert [13:51]: "Allow as young as 14 to work overnight shifts on school days... hopefully the kids will be so tired they'll sleep through history class and won't learn we banned child labor in 1938."

Similarly, he satirizes Texas legislation aimed at regulating the sale of sex toys, pointing out the inconsistency and extremity of such measures.

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Interview with Senator Chuck Schumer

Timestamp [19:59 - 32:42]

The centerpiece of the episode is the interview with Senator Chuck Schumer. Colbert begins by addressing Schumer's recent controversial vote to advance a Republican-drafted continuing resolution (CR) to avert a government shutdown, a decision that has elicited backlash from within his own party:

Stephen Colbert [20:10]: "People are protesting at your house with signs like spine lost. Please return if found before you explain, I'm sure very reasonably, why they should not be mad at you."

Senator Schumer responds by emphasizing the necessity of his vote to prevent a more damaging government shutdown:

Chuck Schumer [21:28]: "Cuz it's important. The shutdown would have been 10 times worse than the CR... they could just decimate the whole federal government. And that's what they wanted to do."

Colbert challenges Schumer on the specifics of the CR, highlighting significant cuts proposed in various sectors:

Stephen Colbert [22:40]: "$1.4 billion in cuts in FEMA construction, $185 million cuts in defense, nuclear, non-proliferation programs... $280 million cuts in scientific research."

Schumer defends his position by arguing that accepting the CR was a strategic move to maintain governmental functions and prevent the Republican administration from gaining unchecked power.

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Discussion on Anti Semitism and Schumer's Book

Timestamp [26:04 - 31:39]

Transitioning to a more serious topic, Colbert introduces Schumer's new book, "Anti Semitism in America, A Warning." He inquires about the urgency behind its publication:

Stephen Colbert [26:04]: "Why was it so vital for you to write this book now?"

Schumer elaborates on the resurgence of anti-Semitic sentiments in America, tracing historical patterns and recent spikes in incidents:

Chuck Schumer [27:53]: "After October 7th, it just got seriously worse. People who wore yarmulkes were punched. They throw rocks through the windows of a Jewish bakery."

He emphasizes the importance of education and awareness in combating ignorance and prejudice, advocating for his book to be integrated into educational curricula to prevent further escalation of anti-Semitism.

Colbert presses Schumer on the apparent increase in anti-Semitic incidents despite awareness, to which Schumer responds by highlighting the latent dangers that democracy faces:

Chuck Schumer [30:03]: "The roots of democracy in America... are deep and we have to fight to keep them."

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Balancing Free Speech and Combating Hate

Timestamp [31:39 - 32:42]

The conversation pivots to the delicate balance between protecting free speech and opposing anti-Semitic rhetoric. Colbert references the case of Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia graduate student detained for pro-Palestinian activism, questioning how to navigate these challenges:

Stephen Colbert [31:39]: "How can we oppose anti Semitic speech and at the same time make sure that we're still protecting free speech?"

Schumer responds by advocating for the protection of free speech while condemning actions that cross into bigotry:

Chuck Schumer [32:00]: "If Khalil... was simply just protesting and exercising his right to free speech... he should be freed, plain and simple."

He delineates the boundary between legitimate criticism of policies and actions that foment hatred, reinforcing the principles of free expression without endorsing prejudice.

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Conclusion

The episode concludes with Colbert thanking Senator Schumer for his insights and promoting Schumer's book as a critical resource in understanding and combating anti-Semitism in America. Colbert underscores the importance of such dialogues in the current political climate, emphasizing the need for informed and proactive measures to safeguard democratic values and promote inclusivity.

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Notable Quotes

• Stephen Colbert [02:04]: "He is a very good man. Very good man right there. Very good man. He broke my heart, but he's a very good man."

• Chuck Schumer [21:28]: "Cuz it's important. The shutdown would have been 10 times worse than the CR... they could just decimate the whole federal government. And that's what they wanted to do."

• Chuck Schumer [27:53]: "After October 7th, it just got seriously worse. People who wore yarmulkes were punched. They throw rocks through the windows of a Jewish bakery."

• Chuck Schumer [32:00]: "If Khalil... was simply just protesting and exercising his right to free speech... he should be freed, plain and simple."

---

Key Takeaways

• Government Accountability: The episode sheds light on the critical issues of governmental transparency and accountability, particularly in the context of leaked classified information.

• Internal Party Dynamics: Schumer's decision to support the CR despite backlash highlights the complex dynamics within the Democratic Party and the strategic considerations leaders must navigate.

• Rise of Anti Semitism: Schumer's book and the ensuing discussion underscore the troubling resurgence of anti-Semitic sentiments in America, emphasizing the necessity for education and legislative action.

• Balancing Free Speech and Hate Prevention: The conversation navigates the challenging terrain of protecting free speech while actively combating hate speech, advocating for clear boundaries to prevent the erosion of democratic values.

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This episode provides a comprehensive and candid exploration of contemporary political challenges, blending humor with serious discourse, and offering listeners a nuanced understanding of the current socio-political landscape through the lens of Senator Chuck Schumer.

Transcript

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[Stephen Colbert]

Welcome, welcome one and all in here, out there, all around the world to the Late Show. I'm your host, Stephen Colbert. Folks, we are on four. What day is this? Day four of the fallout surrounding top Trump officials sharing classified plans to attack Yemen in an unsecured chat group. It's a scandal. We are calling new phone. Who dis on the Houthi chat? Boom boom. Rut row room.

[Advertiser]

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[Stephen Colbert]

Yesterday in the Oval Office, reporters tried to ask Trump about Secretary Pete Hegseth texting all this top secret information in this group. And Trump got his boxers in a knot.

[Pete Hegseth]

Hegseth is doing a great job. He had nothing to do with this Mike Waltz, I guess he said he claimed responsibility. I would imagine had nothing to do with anyone else. It was Mike, I guess. I don't know. I was told it was Mike. Mike did. He took responsibility for it.

[Stephen Colbert]

Bye, Mike. Bye, bye, bye. I'd say you'd be missed, but I'm pretty sure you're going to show up in one of my group chats. How quickly the worms turn. Just two days ago, Trump made a big show of inviting Mike Waltz into the Cabinet Room and said he's a very good man.

[Pete Hegseth]

That man is a very good man right there that you criticize so strongly, sir.

[Chuck Schumer]

He made a mistake.

[Pete Hegseth]

He's a very good man and he will continue to do a good job.

[Stephen Colbert]

He is a very good man. Very good man right there. Very good man. He broke my heart, but he's a very good man. You know what? You know what, Mike? Why don't you take a vacation? Clemenza here will drive you to the airport with. No, no, Mike, you sit in the front seat. Vito here has got to sit in the back and polish his piano wire. At this rate, Waltz is going to end up with a horse's head in his bed. By the way, that horse also in the signal chat. I got something. I got a little something. Here's the thing. Here's the dillo here. In that same White House meeting, not only did the President praise him, Trump assigned Waltz to probe himself. Oh, oh. Which. Which we all know is a sin, but why limit it to Waltz? As far as I'm concerned, all these people can go probe themselves. Hey, Democrats. Thanks, Lind. The Democrats smell blood in the water. Yesterday, California Democrat Jimmy Gomez asked this question. To your knowledge, do you know whether.

[Advertiser]

Pete Hexa had been drinking before he leaked classified information?

[Stephen Colbert]

No, I'm going to answer that. I think that's an offensive line of questioning. The answer is no. I find it interesting that you want to find. You asked. You want an answer. No. Listen, you don't want to focus on the good work that the CIA is doing that the intelligence community Director want to talk about.

[Advertiser]

I reclaim my time, Director.

[Pete Hegseth]

I reclaim my.

[Stephen Colbert]

Ooh, feisty. But it's really hard to pick a fight while wearing your granny glasses. Bring it.

[Chuck Schumer]

Ooh.

[Stephen Colbert]

Bring it, sonny boy. If I wasn't wearing my trifocals right now, I would give you such a pinch. No one is buying the administration's excuses, not even congressional Republicans like Nebraska representative and mayor in a musical about Blueber John Bacon. Here's Bacon's take on the White House's defense. I think it's clearly classified, so they're digging themselves a bigger hole. And so I would implore the Secretary of Defense and others just own it and say it was my fault, I screwed up, and take responsibility. I think they keep digging a deeper hole. Trump cannot be happy about this. Okay, we've lost Don Bacon. This just got real. If we lose Dave Nugget and Mark Filet Ofish, I'm a goner. I know it's just his name. I'm aware it's just his name. This scandal won't be going away anytime soon because Mike Waltz has made a key strategic error being an idiot everywhere at all times. Case in point, yesterday, Wired reported that Mike Waltz left his Venmo friends list public. Pretty embarrassing. As oops by National Security Advisors go. This one's up there with Colin Powell's 1988 nip slip. So we all forget about that. So who are Mike Waltz's Venmo buddies? It's a bunch of politicians, couple lobbyists, as well as some of his personal vendors, like real estate agents, a Taylor and doctors. He's Venmoing his doctor, my man. If your doctor takes Venmo, that ain't a doctor. All right, all right. Here we go. There you go. Okay, Mr. Walsh, just disrobe. Put that on. Swallow this thc gummy. And if someone enters the room during the procedure, don't worry. That's my mom. She lives here. It gets worse. According to a bombshell from German newspaper Der Spiegel. You know their motto, Alder news that's fit Der Spiegel. They did an investigation and found that the Trump team's private data was posted online, including mobile numbers, email addresses and passwords belonging to Tulsi Gabbard, Pete Hegseth and Mike. Yeah, you know I'm on this list, Waltz.

[Chuck Schumer]

Very open.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah. Hey, white walls, baby. Finding this stuff wasn't even a challenge for Der Spiegel. You know their slogan, Dermocracy dies in Derkness. According according to their report. In fact, it's particularly easy for Der Spiegel reporters to discover Hagset mobile number and email address. Yes, it took so little time we were able to leave work and enjoy an invigorating hike to a favorable nightclub which has a very cold room where you can be sat upon by a large man and several smaller men. It invigorates Dustle. It balances the humors. A coupe on a shelf. That's not all that was found by Der Spiegel. Der Spiegel. They had no trouble uncovering passwords belonging to Walt and Hegseth. These are our highest ranking security officials. I don't think we should trust these people with anything top secret. Hell, I don't think we should trust these people with anything pop secret. Yesterday. Yesterday, Trump held an event at the White House celebrating Women's History Month. The theme was Please talk about anything other than Pete Hegseth. It was wall to wall weird. Starting with Trump talking about his efforts to expand access to ivf.

[Pete Hegseth]

We're going to have tremendous, tremendous goodies in the bag for women too. The women. Between the fertilization and all of the other things that we're talking about, it's going to be. It's going to be great.

[Stephen Colbert]

A goody bag that helps with fertilization. Sir, no one wants to hear about your scrotum Then he gave himself a new nickname.

[Pete Hegseth]

I'll be known as the fertilization president at that circle. That's not bad. That's not bad. I've been called. Been called much worse.

[Stephen Colbert]

What's worse than the fertilization president? Oh, wait. Spermander in Chief. That would be worse. You ever seen that? If anyone. If anyone does indeed get fertilized, they may have a harder time finding something for their kids to watch. Because yesterday the House's new Government Efficiency subcommittee grilled the CEOs of NPR and PBS. Marjorie Taylor Greene kicked things off with a weird rant about grooming kids.

[Advertiser]

This is not the only example of them sexualizing and grooming children. They've been doing it for over the last decade. In 2015, PBS produced Frontline, put out a documentary growing up Trans Ma'am.

[Stephen Colbert]

I think the better question might be, why are your kids watching Frontline? All right, kiddos. One more episode of South Korea's Truth Commission, but then it's right to bed. Aw, Mom. But we wanted to watch Amanpour and company defunding. PBS is part of Project 2025. Which is why they also heard from Project 2025 author Mike Gonzalez, who, it turns out, hasn't even heard Daniel Tiger's catchphrase. What does Ugga mugga mean to you?

[Pete Hegseth]

Nothing.

[Stephen Colbert]

You've never heard the expression ugga mugga?

[Pete Hegseth]

Yeah, I don't think so.

[Stephen Colbert]

No, it's affection. Have you ever watched a Daniel Tiger show or know any families who watch a Daniel Tiger show?

[Pete Hegseth]

I don't think so.

[Stephen Colbert]

They want to cancel PBS and don't even know what the shows are on it. Daniel Tiger teaches kids coping skills. Rocket teaches phonics. Alma teaches emotional intelligence. And the show Martha Speaks teaches kids that if you feed a dog Alphabet soup, the letters will go into its brain and then the dog will know how to speak English. Which, coincidentally, is also how Marjorie Taylor Greene learned to talk. Here's the thing. Here's the thing. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting only accounts for roughly 1/100th of 1% of the federal budget, meaning the average cost per American is $1.60 per year. That's nothing. And in exchange, we've gotten five beautiful seasons of All Creatures Great and Small. I had no idea. I had no idea you could stick your arm that far up a cow. I learned something. But this money does actually matter for PBS and NPR. NPR gets around 10% of their funds from the government, and PBS gets around 16%. 16% is a serious chunk. If PBS loses that, they're going to have to rely even more on the Chubb Group. The Chubb Hard times call for a firm Chubb. We got a great show for you tonight.

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[Stephen Colbert]

Folks, there's news out of Florida, America's number one spot to see a manatee take a rip from a watermelon vape. Republicans have been so gung ho on cracking down on immigrants, but now suddenly they've realized, whoops, immigrants do jobs. So the Florida Senate is talking about lifting some child labor laws to fill jobs vacated by undocumented immigrants. Allow as young as 14 to work overnight shifts on school days. Overnight shifts. Okay, good, because hopefully the kids will be so tired they'll sleep through history class and won't learn we banned child labor in 1938. Now firing up the old bobbin factory and dethumbing a few tweens might sound inhumane, but not according to the bill's sponsor, Jay Collins, who says this is a parental rights thing. Parents know their kids best. Yes, when it comes to making their kids work, parents famously know what's best. That's why the band was called the Jackson Mental Health Support Network over in Texas. Right there, state Republicans have different priorities because they've proposed a new bill that would require Texans to show photo ID online and would criminally charge online retailers for selling an obscene device without verifying the buyer's age. Yes, because if you're Some kid. You should not be buying dildos. You should be lubricating the mangle at a Florida shirtwaist factory. The law was introduced by Senator Angela Paxton, wife of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Okay, sounds like somebody wrote up a bill because they got busted. What? Honey, no. I'm browsing these sex toys because I'm mad at them. Ooh, ooh. This stupid silicone ribbed one that's in my cart. You make me furious. Free two day shipping. Look at that. This isn't the first sex toy law introduced in Texas. In 2003, they passed a law that bans the possession of more than six dildos. It makes perfect sense. It's a religious state. And the Bible tells us on the seventh day, you rest. Maybe. Maybe slap on an ice pack. Now, I'm a pretty sex positive guy. Everybody knows that. But I do agree that around the seventh dildo, it's fair to be like, dude, what are you doing with seven dildos? They're scaring the cat. That six dildo law is still on the books, but is considered unenforceable because people could easily get around it by claiming the toys were for medical purposes. Okay, okay, what do we got here? Fever, dry cough, and joint pain. I'm going to write you a prescription for seven dildos. Give that to the nurse on the way out. Now, I know you're probably saying, you're saying, steve, surely there can't be a third completely separate Texas dildo law. To which I say, well, you clearly ain't from around these groins, are you? Pardoner. Because just last year, Texas introduced a law banning sex toys in drugstores. Okay, now you've gone too far. This is Texas. This is freedom country. And you can have my dildo. When you pry it, gently, please. And before you ask, yes, there are sex toys in Texas drugstores, check out this section at the cvs. You got your little sucker, you got your silicone rings, and you got the buzzy butt all locked behind plexiglass. Man, you really gotta want it to press that button. Bing bong, bing bong. Horny sex freak needs assistance on the pervert aisle. We'll be right back with Senator Chuck Schum.

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[Stephen Colbert]

Ladies and gentlemen, my first guest tonight is the highest ranking Democrat in the United States Senate. Please welcome Senator Chuck Schumer. Now, Senator, usually when you're here on the show, it's an absolute giggle. But these are serious times for serious men. They are, unfortunately. You're on my show. I'll do my best. You've got a new book here. It is called Anti Semitism in a Warning. And I want to get to that because it is a vital, it's a necessary warning. But first I want to talk to you about one of the reasons why you've been in the news so much lately. On March 14, after months of the Democrats desperate for the leadership of the party to exercise whatever limited power a minority party may have, you voted to advance the Republican drafted continuing resolution that averted a government shutdown. And a lot of people got mad at you. Like, seriously. Nancy Pelosi was very disappointed. She said, I myself don't give away anything for nothing. People in the caucus have openly called for you to be replaced. People are protesting at your house with signs like spine lost. Please return if found before you explain, I'm sure very reasonably, why they should not be mad at you.

[Chuck Schumer]

Right.

[Stephen Colbert]

Can you put yourself in their shoes for a moment and try to understand why they are.

[Chuck Schumer]

People are angry. I'm angry because Donald Trump is doing such damage to America, to the working people of America, trying to take away so many things.

[Stephen Colbert]

But do you know why they're mad at you.

[Chuck Schumer]

Well, they're mad at me because of the way I voted.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yes.

[Chuck Schumer]

And I knew that, Stephen. I knew when I voted the way I did that a lot of people would be upset. But let me tell you why I did it. Cuz it's important. The shutdown would have been 10 times worse than the CR. Why? Because under a shutdown, the executive branch, in this case, Donald Trump, Musk, Elon Musk, Doge, would have complete power once the government shut down of what could be open and what couldn't. You know, they get to determine what is essential and they could just decimate the whole federal government. And that's what they wanted to do.

[Stephen Colbert]

I can understand what you're saying. I would understand it more if it had been what people call a clean cr, Meaning let's just continue things the status quo as it is. But it wasn't that. It was. There were no Additional FEMA funds. $1.4 billion in cuts in FEMA construction, $185 million cuts in defense, nuclear, non proliferation programs. $280 million cuts in scientific research.

[Chuck Schumer]

Oh, yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

$40 million cuts in programs to help children and families. $30 million in cuts from farmer's assistance. The bill doesn't give any specific funding directive. So it's possible that Trump could take this money and create slush funds. And was. Am I correct? A billion dollars from DC's budget could be taken out.

[Chuck Schumer]

Yeah. Although that was restored.

[Stephen Colbert]

That was restored. Okay, good. So, but let me. Why can't they just do this again in September when the next CR has to be passed?

[Chuck Schumer]

Here's what we think can happen by September. We are going after Trump in every way. We are going after him on so many things. He's destroying. He's trying to destroy even Social Security by shutting down the offices, cutting back the phone line. It's been sacred in America, Stephen, to have Social Security. We love it. He's trying to cut it. He is trying.

[Stephen Colbert]

How do you stop this? Just stop right there.

[Chuck Schumer]

How do you.

[Stephen Colbert]

Let's hold on that one. How do you stop that? Because that is, of course, to use an old term of art. That is the third rail of American politics. Yes, entitlements.

[Chuck Schumer]

And it's amazing. These guys want to do it, but.

[Stephen Colbert]

What will stop them?

[Chuck Schumer]

Okay, first, just how horrible they are. Musk says Social Security is a Ponzi scheme. Tell that to a senior citizen who has that $1,100 a month, helps them buy their medicine. Wait, this is. You got to hear this one. Your Audience, everyone got to hear this one. So Lutnick, the commerce secretary who's a billionaire, of course, they have all billionaires running that show. He says my mother in law wouldn't miss a check from Social Security. Well, every mother in law, Stephen, who has a billion billionaire son in law wouldn't miss it. Everyone else would. So they're going.

[Stephen Colbert]

He said only fraudsters and thieves actually would complain about missing their check.

[Chuck Schumer]

Yeah, they are just so out. And Trump himself, he spent 10 minutes on the State of the Union address lying about Social Security. How about these tariffs they want to put in today? It's going to.

[Stephen Colbert]

You're not allowed to do that. You're not allowed.

[Pete Hegseth]

Sorry.

[Chuck Schumer]

Sorry.

[Stephen Colbert]

Either they react or they don't. We don't do this here. Sorry. I know you always wanted to be a conductor. I know that. Yes, go ahead.

[Chuck Schumer]

Okay. The tariffs, if they put them in the way, he said he's going to do $2,000 increase in the costs of the average American family all to pay the billionaires next week. We're going to go after them on these huge tax cuts for the billionaires. So if Democrats do the right thing, and we are, we go after Trump in all these ways over and over and over again, they will see one, he's breaking all his promises. He said, by the way, when he ran, he made all these promises and a lot of people believed him. I'll reduce costs on day one of my administration. Costs have gone up and with the tariffs, we'll go more. He said, I won't touch Social Security or Medicaid. Medicaid is so essential to so many people, they're going after them. So people will see that he's broken his promises if we keep going after him, after him every single day. And they will see whose side that he's not on their side. He's on the side of his billionaire buddies. And once that happens, they won't have the strength to do what they did. Now.

[Stephen Colbert]

We have to take a quick break. We'll be right back with more Chuck Schumer, everybody. Hey, everybody. We're back with the author of Anti Semitism in America, A Warning, Senator Chuck Schumer. Why was it so vital for you to write this book now?

[Chuck Schumer]

Okay, that's. Thank you for asking. Look, I grew up, I was born in 1950 and I grew up in what Jewish people called the golden Medina, the golden age for Jews, not only in America, but in the world. Because first we were all advancing, not just Jews, everybody. My family came from poverty and ended up in the middle class, you know, so that was one thing. But second, the shadow of the Holocaust, the curtain of the Holocaust even hung over America. And everyone saw the horror of. Of it and what unabated, you know, not fighting anti Semitism would be. And so the world opened up for Jewish people. We used to be excluded from where we could live. We used to be excluded. You couldn't join this firm, you couldn't do this, you couldn't do that. All that went away, even the innuendo. So we had a great 50 years starting in. When there's trouble, antisemitism always rears its other ugly head. The Irish poet Connor Cruz O'Brien said, Anti Semitism is a light sleeper. So 2001 occurs, and then there's all these conspiracy theories. Oh, all the Jews were told to leave the 9, 11. Cantor Fitzgerald. Then we have the financial crisis of 2008. The international Jewish conspiracy caused it. But still anti Semitism was not. The pot was not boiling until October 7th.

[Stephen Colbert]

We were shocked into our consciousness on this in Charlottesville before that, in 2017. So I pushed that back, okay, about seven years it was.

[Chuck Schumer]

But after the seventh, it just got seriously worse. People who wore yarmulkes were punched. They throw rocks through the windows of a Jewish bakery. Nothing to do with Israel. A Jewish bakery. The Brooklyn Museum is near my house. You know, I'm a proud Brooklynite, as you know. And the president was Jewish, but had nothing to do with Israel. They smeared her house with red paint. So I felt as the. I'm the highest ranking Jewish elected official in America ever. And now also. And I felt I had to speak out. So I gave speeches on the floor of the Senate about it. But I felt I had to write this book because it is a warning. It shows the history. And I think if every American read this book or many Americans read this book, the danger of anti Semitism would decline.

[Stephen Colbert]

Who in public office would you most like to give this book to?

[Chuck Schumer]

I would. He. Donald Trump has done some very bad things in this score. He's not an anti Semite, but he trucks in it, like you said Charlottesville. But he wouldn't read it.

[Stephen Colbert]

So would you like to give this to Elon Musk?

[Chuck Schumer]

I don't think Elon Musk would read it either. Wow. And you know, again, Elon Musk, he did that salute. Some people debate, was it a Nazi salute? Was it not a Nazi salute? But you know what he didn't do? Whether it was or not, when people said it was like a Nazi salute, the right thing to do is say, I would never do a Nazi salute. I abhor the Nazis. And he was silent and just let it happen.

[Stephen Colbert]

I know, I know. And I really. I really think that's such an incredible quote. Anti Semitism is a light sleeper.

[Chuck Schumer]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

So even though anti Semitism is. Has been in the Western world for thousands of years, are you surprised by how virulently and how powerfully it's come back recently?

[Chuck Schumer]

Yes, until recently, Jewish Americans would say, it can't happen here, meaning America. It's not that we think it will happen here. The roots of democracy in America, praise God, are deep and we have to fight to keep them, as I mentioned. But the possibility that maybe it might is in people's minds for the first time. And there's so much ignorance. That's one of the reasons I wrote this book of young people. 20% think the Holocaust was a fake, a hoax that, you know, not a hoax, but they don't believe it. They said it never happened. And another 50% don't know about it. I wrote this book aimed at a lot of different audiences. One, my generation of Jewish people so don't feel so alone and isolated. I can share my feelings with them. Second, to their children, so they will learn about it. You know, the children of most Jewish people are pro Jewish, pro Israel, but they don't know the deep, long history. Third, I aimed it at non Jewish people who are friendly to Jewish people and all that. But sometimes they ask themselves, you know, why are they making such a big deal? Maybe this isn't such a big deal, but We Jews carry 5,000 years on our history. And when anti Semitism rears its ugly head and you don't fight it, it gets worse and worse. I wrote it to both the left and the right, and then I aimed it at young people everywhere. I hope every school and every college will make this book part of the curriculum. Because the best antidote against anti Semitism is for people to just get knowledge of who we are, what we're all about, and all of that, and then they won't be anti Semitic. Or at least we hope.

[Stephen Colbert]

Former former Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil was arrested and is currently being detained for pro Palestinian activism on campus. How can we oppose anti Semitic speech and at the same time make sure that we're still protecting free speech? Even free speech you may not like.

[Chuck Schumer]

Look, if Khalil, Mahmoud. Mahmoud Khalil was simply just protesting and exercising his right to free speech, and they haven't filed any evidence that he's committed a crime. He should be freed, plain and simple. And let me just say this. Let me just say this. You can criticize Israel, and that's not at all anti Semitic. I've criticized Israel. I've gotten some flak for it because I didn't believe Netanyahu was prosecuting the war in exactly the right way. But. But when it steps over the line and starts leading to real action and bigotry, that's where you got to be careful. And that's why I wrote the book.

[Stephen Colbert]

Senator, thanks for being here. His book, anti Semitism in America, is available now. Senator Chuck Schumer, everybody. Thank you for listening to the Late Show POD show with Stephen Colbert. Just one more thing. If you want to see more of me, come to The Late Show YouTube channel for more clips and exclusives.