America is being ruled by Fox & Friends because Trump is ‘afraid’ to defy them: Texas Democrat

Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-TX) told CNN's John Berman on Friday that the only reason the federal government is still shut down is because President Donald Trump is afraid that the hosts of "Fox & Friends" will say mean things about him.

Escobar pointed out that there was a deal to reopen the government that passed by an overwhelmingly bipartisan majority in the Senate in late December. After Trump watched scathing criticism of the bill on "Fox & Friends," however, he backed off his pledge to sign it.

"I think we have to remember why the government is shut down today," Escobar said. "It really is not because of a wall. The reason that there's a government shutdown today, and I feel like we're taking our focus off of this, is because the president is afraid of Fox News. There was a deal to reopen the government."

Escobar then pointed out that giving Trump what he wants with funding for his border wall would just give him an incentive to take the entire federal government hostage on a future date.

"If we give in, if we capitulate on this, then that's sending a signal to the president that any time he wants to dig in his heels about absolutely anything, all he has to do is try to shut down the government," she said. "This is in many ways much bigger than the conversation about a wall. This is about how we govern."

Watch the video below.