House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) scrambled to clarify a comment made by Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins Friday during a press conference, but in doing so, may lead to Rollins’ comments causing a “total backfire” against Republicans, political analyst and journalist Jason Easley wrote Friday.
Rollins, who was tapped by President Donald Trump to head the Department of Agriculture last November, declared during the presser, addressing the American people, that “your government is failing you right now,” and that “we have failed you.”
Johnson hopped on the microphone immediately after Rollins’ remarks to clarify that “when she says ‘we have failed you,’ she means ‘we,’ the Democrats, okay?”
Writing for his liberal new website PoliticusUSA, Easley argued that Rollins’ statement, coupled with Johnson’s quick scramble, was a clear Freudian slip on Rollins’ part, and one that could very well backfire as the government shutdown reaches its 31st day, and interruptions to key government services like food assistance grind to a halt.
“Johnson’s clarification was nonsense because Rollins isn’t a Democrat, so when she used the word we, she meant Republicans and Democrats,” Easley wrote. “With that one statement, Rollins wrecked the Republican claim that Democrats are to blame for the shutdown. The press conference was a total backfire.”
The government shutdown was sparked by disagreements on government health care subsidies, with Democrats refusing to support any spending measure that does not include an extension of said subsidies. Democrats have blamed Republicans for the shutdown, given their refusal to extend the subsidies, and that the party maintains control of Congress and the White House.
Conversely, Republicans have blamed Democrats for the shutdown, pointing to their refusal to support a clean, temporary funding measure to extend negotiations before a larger spending bill can be agreed upon, keeping the government open in the process.
But with Rollins’ remarks Friday, Easley said Republicans had told on themselves regarding which party is truly to blame for the shutdown.
“Republicans are losing the shutdown, and even when they try to blame Democrats, they end up blaming themselves,” Easley wrote.