Chuck Schumer sparks outrage after referring to mentally-disabled homeless children as ‘retarded’ on podcast
- Schumer, the Senate majority leader, appeared on a podcast on Sunday
- He was on OneNYCHA show to discuss affordable housing and homelessness
- Schumer, representing New York in the Senate, talked about plans for shelters
- He told how in the past he had ‘wanted to build a congregant living place for retarded children, and the whole neighborhood was against it’
- Schumer’s spokesman later apologized for ‘inappropriate and outdated’ words
Chuck Schumer has raised eyebrows by referring to mentally disabled homeless children as ‘retarded’.
The Senate minority leader, who represents New York, was asked on a Sunday podcast about housing in New York City.
Schumer, 70, told how he understood the complexities of social housing, and especially homeless shelters, thanks to previous experience.
‘I wanted to build, when I first was an assemblyman, they wanted to build a congregant living place for retarded children, and the whole neighborhood was against it,’ he said.
Schumer, 70, appeared on the OneNYCHA podcast on Sunday to discuss New York City’s housing problems. The senator told how, years ago, he faced a struggle to build a shelter for ‘retarded’ homeless children. His spokesman later apologized
‘These are harmless kids. They just needed some help. We got it done, [but] it took a while.’
Schumer’s spokesman later acknowledged his word choice was ‘inappropriate and outdated.’
‘For decades, Senator Schumer has been an ardent champion for enlightened policy and full funding of services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities,’ the spokesperson told the Washington Examiner.
‘He used an inappropriate and outdated word in his description of an effort he supported that was led by the AHRC to build a group home in his Brooklyn district decades ago to provide housing and services to children with developmental disabilities.
‘He is sincerely sorry for his use of the outdated and hurtful language.’