Lieberman slams ‘outrageous’ Schumer speech: ‘I can’t ever remember anything like it’ 

No Labels founding Chair and former Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) slammed Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) for a speech he made earlier this week in which he called for new elections in Israel.

“For a U.S. Senator, let alone a majority leader, let alone the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in Washington, to tell Israelis that it’s time to get rid of [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu], that’s outrageous,” Lieberman said in a Sunday interview with radio host John Catsimatidis on “The Cats Roundtable” on WABC 770 AM.

The former Connecticut senator also referred to the speech as a “mistake” and said that he “can’t ever remember anything like it.”

On Thursday, Schumer gave what he called a “major address” in which he said that Netanyahu’s “highest priority is the security of Israel,” but that he has “lost his way.”

“However, I also believe Prime Minister Netanyahu has lost his way by allowing his political survival to take the precedence over the best interests of Israel,” Schumer said.

Schumer also said that the Israeli prime minister is in a coalition with “far-right extremists” and has been “too willing to tolerate the civilian toll in Gaza, which is pushing support for Israel worldwide to historic lows.” 

“As a lifelong supporter of Israel, it has become clear to me: The Netanyahu coalition no longer fits the needs of Israel after Oct. 7,” Schumer said. “The world has changed — radically — since then, and the Israeli people are being stifled right now by a governing vision that is stuck in the past.”

Lieberman pushed back on Schumer’s comments by proposing a scenario in which Schumer or someone else in the U.S. government told the United Kingdom to get rid of their prime minister.

“Oh my God, there’d be outrage all around,” Lieberman said.