Senator Adam Schiff urged politicians to stop using power to undermine presidents for partisan reasons during a speech at the Texas Tribune Festival. He argued that such tactics harm the country and called for better information consumption to reduce divisions. Critics quickly highlighted his past efforts against former President Donald Trump as hypocritical.
At the Texas Tribune Festival, newly elected Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA) advocated for bipartisanship, stating that lawmakers should not render presidents or parties "unsuccessful" due to political differences. Schiff, who filled the late Senator Dianne Feinstein's seat in 2024 after 24 years in the House of Representatives, described this approach as a "ruinous idea."
"That attitude that you can make a president or a party unsuccessful, no matter what damage it might do to the country, because it’s good politics — we have to get past that ruinous idea," Schiff said. He added, "We have to figure out a way to stop viewing each other as our enemy." To address divisions, he suggested becoming "better consumers of information" to discern truth from falsehood and to cease rewarding "advertising behemoths for dividing us the way they do."
The remarks drew immediate backlash from critics pointing to Schiff's history during Donald Trump's first term. From 2017 to 2019, Schiff frequently appeared on cable news claiming "direct evidence of Russia collusion" with Trump, though he never produced such proof. He also served as a lead manager in Trump's 2019 impeachment, presenting what some viewed as a one-sided case.
George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley criticized the impeachment process at the time, saying, "If you make a high crime and misdemeanor out of going to the courts, it is an abuse of power — it’s your abuse of power." He added, "Fast and narrow is not a good recipe for impeachment."
Commentators like Scott Adams, creator of "Dilbert," remarked, "Schiff’s entire game depends on people not remembering what he said yesterday." Another critic, IT Guy, noted Schiff's repeated collusion claims, while Steve Guest simply said, "Pot meet kettle."