Sen. Chuck Schumer, the incoming Democratic Senate leader, said Tuesday that President-elect Donald Trump told him he liked him more than Republican leaders in Congress.
But the New York Democrat told CNN’s Dana Bash he would remain skeptical of Trump’s effort to “flatter” him.
“When you get to be in my position, people do tend to want to flatter you and you’ve got to take it with a grain of salt,” Schumer said.
The New York Post reported Sunday that Trump told Schumer, who supported Hillary Clinton, that he liked him more than Republicans such as House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Asked by Bash about the report, Schumer acknowledged, “He said something close to it.”
Despite the kind words, Schumer said that will not influence his approach to policymaking in the upcoming session.
“Look, I don’t know Donald Trump very well. I never played golf with him, I never had a meal with him. I’d cross his path at things in New York. But that’s going to have very little effect,” he said. “My guiding light is going to be the principles of our party and what I think are the right principles of our country: helping the middle class, helping those trying to get there.”
Schumer was a part of a group of lawmakers calling for an investigation into American intelligence agencies’ conclusion that Russian hacking intended to help Trump defeat Clinton.