MSNBC host Symone Sanders-Townsend shocked viewers by announcing live on air that she is leaving the Democratic Party and registering as an independent. The former Biden and Kamala Harris advisor said she was furious over Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer siding with Republicans on a spending bill, calling his decision a “total betrayal.”
During her show The Weekend, Sanders-Townsend criticized Schumer for backing a Trump-supported resolution to keep the government running, despite previously claiming Democrats would fight it. She accused him of folding “like a paper napkin” and failing to stand up to Trump. She also expressed frustration that the bill included cuts to Washington, D.C. programs, where she currently resides.
Schumer’s decision has sparked a wave of backlash from liberal commentators and Democratic lawmakers, many of whom believe he handed Republicans an easy victory. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries declined to support Schumer when asked whether the Senate needed new Democratic leadership. Meanwhile, former Democratic Congresswoman Donna Edwards called it a failure of leadership and a major strategic blunder.
The bill passed 54-46, with 10 Senate Democrats siding with Republicans to push it through. The deal allows the government to continue operating but includes billions in spending cuts. It also follows mass layoffs driven by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has been restructuring federal agencies. The controversy is expected to fuel further divides within the Democratic Party.
