Schumer caught on hot mic telling Biden Dems are ‘in danger,’ ‘going downhill’ in Georgia Senate race

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer was caught on a hot mic telling President Biden on Thursday that Democrats are “in danger” in at least one Senate race and admitting that the party is “going downhill” in the closely watched Georgia contest. 

“That seat, we’re, we’re in danger in that seat,” Schumer (D-NY) could be heard telling the president on the tarmac at Syracuse Hancock International Airport. It’s unclear to which seat Schumer was referring. 

“But you know, it looks like the debate didn’t hurt too much in Pennsylvania as of today, so that’s good … basically, we’re picking up steam in Nevada,” Schumer continued, referencing Pennsylvania Senate candidate John Fetterman’s poor showing in his first and only debate with GOP opponent Dr. Mehmet Oz. 

Biden could be seen crossing his fingers as Schumer delivered his assessment that Fetterman’s debate performance didn’t end his chances. The president exchanged some words with Schumer as well, but it was unclear what he was saying. 

Seconds later, Schumer updated Biden on the state of play in the Peach State, where the latest average of polls from RealClearPolitics shows Republican Herschel Walker leading incumbent Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock by 0.6 percentage points.

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“The state where we’re going downhill is Georgia. It’s hard to believe that they will go for Herschel Walker,” a shocked-sounding Schumer told the president. 

Republicans are gaining ground in several swing-state races with less than two weeks until Election Day. 

Polls show tightening Senate contests in Nevada, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Georgia, among others.

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The Cook Political Report changed its assessment of Arizona’s Senate race from “Lean Democrat” to a toss-up on Thursday, suggesting the GOP could flip the state. And Real Clear Politics’s adjusted poll average has Republican Blake Masters leading incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly by 0.1 percentage points and lists the state as a likely “GOP pick up.”

In Nevada, Republican Senate candidate Adam Laxalt is up in the polls by an average of half a percentage point over incumbent Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto, according to Real Clear Politics. As Schumer suggested, Cortez Masto had trailed Laxalt by more than 2 points at the beginning of October. 

In Pennsylvania, Fetterman is still ahead of Oz but the race has narrowed considerably. The Democratic lieutenant governor is ahead of the former heart surgeon by less than a point, according to Real Clear Politics, which predicts Oz to win on Election Day.