‘Morning Joe’: Sen. Chuck Schumer Says Dems Held the Senate Because Voters ‘Always Cared About Abortion’ (Video)

“It stayed in the hearts of the people,” the senator from New York said

In the “Morning Joe” studio on Monday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said voters “always cared about abortion” after reproductive rights proved to be an important issue among midterm voters and contributed to the Democrats’ Senate majority win.

Host Joe Scarborough introduced the segment by talking about how abortion seemed to be a fading issue among Americans, as polls in the late fall showed that fewer and fewer voters cited it as an important issue. Instead, the economy and looming recession seemed to be at the top of voters’ minds.

However, abortion rights ended up being a decisive factor in this midterm election, as exit polls showed that 27% of voters cited abortion as the single most important issue that informed their vote, just behind inflation at 31%.

Schumer said that all the candidates who ran successful midterm campaigns talked about abortion “till the very end.”

“Abortion had always stayed as a very important issue with large numbers of people,” Schumer told “Morning Joe.” “It stayed in the hearts of people.”

Abortion rights also prevailed in all five states with abortion access on the ballot, including California, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana and Vermont.

Schumer went on to explain that the abortion issue “symbolized how extreme the other party had become,” referring to how Republicans were viewed as too radical on abortion.

The party’s extremeness had “ramifications even beyond the abortion issue,” he said.

As Democrats continue to fight for control over the House, Schumer went on to explain that the Democrats’ surprising Senate win is because they talked about all sorts of things that “mattered to everyday Americans,” not just abortion rights.

“We talked about things that people cared about: reducing the cost of prescription drugs, finally dealing with climate, student debt. Young people voted more heavily than people thought because of those issues.”

Watch the full segment here or in the embed above.

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