"Everyone here will be ready to actively stand up for one another if ever one group is attacked," Sen. Chuck Schumer said. | Getty Schumer slams Bannon White House appointment

Future Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said on Monday that Donald Trump's elevation of Steve Bannon to a senior role at the White House means that many "dangerous and bigoted ideas will have a seat at the table."

In a speech to the Democracy Alliance, a progressive group allied with Democrats, the first Jewish Senate leader laced into Bannon, according to a source. Schumer vowed to stand up to the Trump White House if Bannon's brand of alt-right politics seep into the West Wing.


"If allies or aides to the president say anything that demeans a group of Americans, we won’t hesitate for a moment to demand that our new president condemn those comments. And already we have reason to. Steve Bannon’s appointment to a senior White House post signals that many of his dangerous and bigoted ideas will have a seat at the table in the White House," Schumer said, according to a source who attended the event. "We will be watching. And everyone here will be ready to actively stand up for one another if ever one group is attacked."

Schumer's ability to work with Trump is critical to any legislation passing: Trump will likely need the votes of at least eight Senate Democrats to pass anything next year because of the 60-vote threshold on most legislation. As the next leader of those Democrats, Schumer will be the point man during any negotiations.

Schumer also said he will "respect the office of the presidency" but will respond if Trump "says anything that demeans women, or Muslims or Latinos or our friends in the LGBT community."

The New York senator joined a growing group of Democrats to condemn the appointment of Bannon, a former Breitbart News executive, to a chief strategist role at the White House. On Monday, the Congressional Black Caucus, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and a host of Senate Democrats attacked Trump for elevating Bannon, who many in the party are calling a "white supremacist."

"His leadership of Breitbart, which provides a voice to radical white-supremacist groups, allegations about his comments on Jews, and charges of domestic abuse ought to be seen as disqualifying for a role at the White House," said House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.).

"Steve Bannon ran a website that trafficked in anti-Semitism and misogyny. He is an unacceptable choice to advise a U.S. president," said Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.),

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who is retiring at the end of the year, said he will speak about Bannon on Tuesday in a speech on the Senate floor. His spokesman said Bannon’s role “signals that white supremacists will be represented at the highest levels in Trump's White House.”