MTG and Trump gifted Democrats a 'great day' by plunging GOP into new chaos: analyst
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene speaks alongside President Donald Trump at a campaign event in Rome, Georgia, on March 9, 2024. via Getty Images
October 08, 2025
During an appearance on MSNBC on Wednesday morning, Politico’s Jonathan Martin claimed that Donald Trump and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) inadvertently handed Democrats a big win on Tuesday by putting Republicans on the defensive once again.
Speaking with the hosts of “Morning Joe,” Martin singled out Greene siding with Democrats on the need for Affordable Care Act subsidies in the disputed budget bill that has brought the government to a screeching halt, and Trump suggesting an estimated 750,000 furloughed government employees don’t deserve to be paid.
All in all, he claimed Democrats had a "great day."
As Martin noted, Greene’s breaking with the party line and Trump’s unforced error were a blessing for Democrats.
"I do think they [Republicans] want to fix the issue of Obamacare premiums, they don't want to do it, though, in a way that is seen as sort of caving to Democratic demands,” he explained. “So this there's this standoff, but it's a lot of theater.”
“I think when the government does come back, there's going to be some kind of fix on those premiums previously Mika [Brzezinski] for the reasons that you laid out on the screen, because all those states that are the hardest hit are all red America and all have GOP senators,” he explained. ”But what MTG did there was hand the Democrats a gift yesterday.”
He then explained, “Also, don't forget Trump yesterday saying we're not sure if folks are going to get back pay after all, which is devastating to federal employees who are counting on that back pay.. which is totally off-message here.”
“Yesterday was, to date, one of the best political days for Democrats during the shutdown since the shutdown because you have MTG breaking ranks on health care and then Trump doing his Trump thing.”