Chuck Schumer Mocked for Having ‘Imaginary Friends’

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has been subject to ridicule after decades of citing a fictional middle-class family to justify his political positions.

The New York Democrat has long referenced Joe and Eileen Bailey, imaginary constituents from Massapequa, Long Island, who he detailed in his 2007 book “Positively American: Winning Back the American Middle Class One Family at a Time.” 

According to the book, Schumer runs every policy decision by this average, middle-class, swing-voting family.

Comedian John Oliver poked fun at Schumer for his obsession with these characters he created.

“Schumer first introduced the world to the Baileys in his 2007 book, Positively American, winning back the middle-class majority, one family at a time,” the host said. “In it, he mentions the Baileys, an astonishing 265 times in 264 pages. He’s apparently been talking about them for years before the book was published.”

Throughout his career, Oliver continued, Schumer has assigned them a detailed backstory, from Joe singing the national anthem at Islanders games to Eileen’s church clothing drives, their preferred fast-food orders (“Kung Pao chicken”) and favorite TV shows.

But, as Oliver repeated in his Sunday monologue: “They don’t exist.”

“Seriously, he invented them,” the comedian said, mocking Schumer’s Bailey lore by adding: “That is a J.R.R. Tolkien-level of gratuitous backstory, and I don’t say that lightly.”

Kendall and Casey discuss the story: