WATCH: Chuck Schumer Laughed Off Senate Podium After Saying NYT Is Biased Against Dems

Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) was laughed off the chamber’s podium this week for suggesting that a New York Times poll showing that Americans blame Democrats for the government shutdown was biased against his party.

The bizarre moment, which led the entire Republican side of the chamber to erupt into laughter, occurred just before the government officially shut down. The Senate Democrats voted down a continuing resolution that had been passed by the House of Representatives.

“Now I know the leader is going to show a poll that says that Democrats will be blamed for the shutdown,” Schumer said, alluding to the New York Times/Siena survey in question. “There are many more polls that show Republicans are blamed. The question in that poll is biased.”

“In the New York Times, but it’s biased,” Schumer incredulously continued before the GOP side of the aisle erupted into laughs. “I don’t always believe the New York Times … You can be sure of that,” Schumer responded. “Neither do you.”

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House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and his Senate counterpart have repeatedly called on the Trump administration to “compromise” by extending Obama-era Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax cuts and guaranteeing taxpayer-funded healthcare “for all.”

Republicans and the White House have rejected Democratic proposals due to demands for taxpayer-funded healthcare for illegal aliens. “If you look at the original they did with this negotiation, it was a $1.5 trillion spending package, basically saying the American people want to give massive amounts of money, hundreds of billions of dollars to illegal aliens for their health care, while Americans are struggling to pay their health care bills,” Vice President JD Vance said following a meeting between legislative leaders at the White House earlier this week.

While Democrats were largely split on the issue of shutting down the government in order to secure their demands, Republicans and independents have been firmly against it.

According to the NYT/Siena poll, which was conducted just before the October 1 deadline, just 27 percent of respondents said Democrats should shut down the government if their demands were not met.