Ed Schultz challenges striking truckers: 'What in the hell have Republicans done for you?'

MSNBC host Ed Schultz accused right-wing talk hosts of co-opting "the very people that they've done nothing more" in encouraging a group of truck drivers in their attempt to blunt traffic around Washington D.C. on Friday in the demonstration.

"If you're a trucker, may I ask you tonight: What in the hell have Republicans done for you?" Schultz said. "They've let subsidies run wild to the oil companies. They've done nothing to reel in the speculation on Wall Street because they don't want any regulation whatsoever. They want all deregulation. Tell me, what have the Republicans done for you independent truckers out there on your own, the entrepreneurs of America, what have they done for you? I'll tell you -- nothing."

After speculating that "probably most" of the demonstrators will be armed, Schultz described them as angry people with a barrage of complaints, but directed at the wrong source in President Barack Obama.

"They're upset about high fuel prices," Schultz pointed out. "Really? What have the Republicans done about that? Not a damn thing. In fact, I think these truckers, they ought to find out who exactly is in favor of big oil subsidies."

It was also easy, Schultz argued, for conservative elements to make "low-information" voters upset about issues like regulations or the debt limit.

"This is one angry and disturbed bunch of folks," Schultz said. "And they have been listening to radio [hosts] all across the country who have been encouraging them to think that they really can do this and get away with it."

Watch Schultz analyze right-wing radio's egging on of the striking truckers, aired Tuesday on MSNBC, below.

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