CNN anchor Kasie Hunt engaged in a heated exchange with Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) on Wednesday, with the frustrated senator complaining, “You keep pushing back,” in response to GOP claims that Democrats and far-left groups are responsible for the ongoing government shutdown. He characterized the Republicans' assertions as "a whole lot of gibberish."
"The most important thing, again, is that what I know for a fact: 24 million Americans are going to have their premiums increased," Gallego insisted.
Hunt pushed back on claims from Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME), who suggested "the government shutdown is the result of hardball politics driven by the demands far-left groups are making for Democratic Party leaders to put on a show of their opposition to President Trump."
She asked Gallego to clarify and asked if he thinks Golden was wrong.
"No, I, I think that whole conversation, everything you just said to me, doesn't really matter. I know," he shot back.
"You don't think that Chuck Schumer, for example, is acting because he might face a primary with AOC?" Hunt asked, referring to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).
"No, I don't think — I think that's b.s., 24 million Americans are going to have their premiums increased November 1st," Gallego responded.
"That's what matters here. That's what I want to fix," he said. "I represent the state with the most Republicans of any senator, Democratic senator. What I hear about is the fact that people are worried about the cost of everything. And on November 1st, hundreds of thousands of Arizonans are going to look at their open enrollment. They're going to realize they're going to pay thousands of dollars more in premiums, because the United States government did not act."
He said the stakes are high — that it's not about a political statement to Trump.
"Well, here's the difference, right? If you're a government employee, you will get your back pay. If the United States government, Donald Trump, the Republicans do not extend these tax credits, U.S. citizens are going to pay, 24 million of them, on average, double the premiums for the rest of their lives," Gallego said.
"And there is no going back," he added.
Neither Democrats nor Republicans have shown signs of backing down. The Trump administration said it is not willing to negotiate; however, Vice President JD Vance said Wednesday that he's apparently had private negotiations with some Democrats to end the standoff.
Gallego told Hunt that Vance has not reached out to him, but he is in conversation with other senators.
"I think what matters is that protecting 24 million Americans from having their insurance premiums doubled in Arizona, more than 100,000 Arizonans will lose their health coverage in general if we don't continue these premium subsidies by November 1st, is a good thing, right? That is what, at the end of the day, matters here, because things are already really expensive," Gallego said.
"Every day Americans are paying more for cars, for housing, for food. And now the Republicans, led by Donald Trump, are going to increase insurance premiums on average for most of the 24 million Americans by 50%. So we have a time period between now and November 1st to fix that," he said. "And it's up to the Republicans whether they want to help engage in that and stop these increases on these Americans."