Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer warned President Trump on Wednesday that Democrats will pressure GOP lawmakers to block a nominee who once questioned President Barack Obama's academic resume and U.S. citizenship.

Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, released a statement saying the recent unrest in Charlottesville, Va., involving white nationalists should prompt Trump to withdraw the nomination of Sam Clovis to serve as the Agriculture Department's undersecretary for research, education and economics.

"In this time of great division, our nation cries out for healing, unity and clarity on the path forward from our elected leaders. Unfortunately, for Donald Trump to nominate and to advocate for Senate confirmation of someone with views as backwards as Mr. Clovis's, is not only a signal to the darkest and most evil forces in this country to carry on, but a clear as day message to the world that this administration continues to tolerate hate," the two lawmakers said in the statement.

Clovis, who currently serves as White House liaison to the USDA, once questioned Obama's admittance to college and whether he was born in the United States. Clovis suggested Obama may have been "given a pass" because he is black.

Schumer and Schatz said in the statement that Trump must withdraw Clovis as "a gesture to the American people that this administration is serious about rooting out the most hateful voices in our society."

Schumer said if Trump does not withdraw Clovis, Democrats will "vehemently" oppose it and will step up pressure on GOP lawmakers to do the same.

Clovis, a retired Air Force colonel who worked on Trump's presidential campaign, is a skeptic of climate change science and once called former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder "a racist bigot."

The Republican-Senate majority can confirm nominees with 51 votes, circumventing Democratic opposition. But with only 52 Republicans, the slim margin could enable Democrats to pressure moderate Republicans to withhold support.