Politicizing the #TrumpShutdown: Trump Seeks More Republicans, Rejects Working with Democrats

As the prospect of a government shutdown drew closer on Friday night the recriminations flew from both sides of the political aisle. Republicans sought to brand Donald Trump’s failure to make a deal as the SchumerShutdown, for Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer. From the other side, Schumer struck back with his branding of the legislative belly flop as the TrumpShutdown. Meanwhile, the American people appear to have already made up their minds, with polls showing overwhelming that they hold Trump and the GOP accountable.

Donald Trump

No one should be surprised that the party regulars are seeking to cast this crisis in terms most favorable to their own side. That’s standard operating procedure for politicians engulfed in a controversial dispute. But leave it to Donald Trump to bring the debate down to the lowest levels of rank self-interest and political cynicism.

In the hours following the Senate’s inability to pass a bill that would keep the government running, Trump was on duty, sitting on his throne with his phone and tweeting out nonsense. He clearly doesn’t understand the dynamics of Congress. It’s his party that controls the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the White House. This is the first government shutdown ever during an administration with that unified control. And the Continuing Resolution that went down to defeat couldn’t even secure the votes of all GOP senators. So it’s hard, therefore, to place the blame on Democrats for the bill’s failure. What’s more, in a 2013 shutdown during the Obama administration Trump himself insisted that, under these circumstances, it’s the president who is responsible. Apparently that only applies to black presidents.

Trump’s post-shutdown Saturday morning tweets went further than just political jockeying for positive spin. He turned the closure of the government into a campaign event by overtly calling for the election of more Republicans:

Trump’s focus on politicizing his shutdown illustrates how narrow his grasp is of leadership and governing. By advocating for electoral gains he is pushing off any hopes of progress until next November. He is also effectively abandoning any effort to work with Democrats on crafting a compromise. He obviously isn’t going to get the extra Republicans he wants in the next few days or weeks. The only chance of ending the shutdown is to recognize the reality of the current situation and engage with Democrats. He might even want to consider keeping his word to sign whatever the Congress sent him. They actually did produce a bipartisan compromise, but Trump unilaterally rejected it.

However, the “Art of the Deal” president thinks that insulting Democrats is the way to get their cooperation. His press secretary issued a response to the shutdown that blamed it on Democrats and called them “obstructionist losers.” And Trump himself has been taking swipes, as usual, on Twitter. In addition to his preposterous claim that Democrats “want illegal immigration and weak borders,” he incoherently railed that “Democrats are holding our Military hostage over their desire to have unchecked illegal immigration.”

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This is no way to run a government. But it is business as usual for Trump and the GOP. They aren’t interested in doing the people’s work or seeking their best interests. Whenever they manage to do anything it invariably produces more suffering, cuts services, or enriches the already privileged. You might say that, for all intents and purposes, the government has been shut down since January 20, 2017, the day Trump was inaugurated.

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3 thoughts on “Politicizing the #TrumpShutdown: Trump Seeks More Republicans, Rejects Working with Democrats

  1. For a party that lost the people’s vote by nearly 3 million and a year later have the worst approval rating for a president in our history one year into his presidency.
    Ain’t no damn way in hell this shutdown will be blamed on the Democratic party.

  2. January 20th, 2017: America elects it’s first Manwhore president.
    Januray 20th: 2018: Said Manwhore and his associates shut down the United States government over refusal to cooperate with a bipartisan bill with Democrats.

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