Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) was grilled on MSNBC Tuesday night, repeatedly asked by host Chris Matthews to name the difference between a socialist and a Democrat.
“What’s the difference between a socialist and a Democrat?” Matthews asked.
“Oh, it depends how you define each one, doesn’t it?” Schumer replied.
Matthews doubled down.
“Well, you do it,” he told Schumer.
“Well, I’m not going to get into it,” the New York senator replied.
Matthews seemed to grow slightly frustrated, mentioning that neither Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz nor Hillary Clinton has answered his question.
“Why not? No one will get into it!” he exclaimed. “The chair of the Democratic Party won’t answer my question. Hillary Clinton — you guys are well-schooled in political language and nomenclature. You are quite capable of defining the difference between a socialist self-described and a Democrat self-described. What is it?”
“I have nothing bad to say about Bernie Sanders,” Schumer replied.
“Okay,” Matthews said with a chuckle.