President Donald Trump's efforts to distract from, or deflect blame on, the federal government shutdown have been an utter failure, Axios' Sara Fischer told CNN's Audie Cornish on Monday morning.
The shutdown, which has lasted for weeks with no indications of an end in sight, began over the expiration of Affordable Care Act subsidies for millions of people. Democrats are refusing to provide Republicans with the votes to reopen the government until they negotiate over extending those subsides, and there are also demands for a guarantee that Trump's budget director cannot unilaterally cancel the money.
Polls have consistently found more voters blaming Trump and Republicans for the current situation.
"What's wild ... is that he brokered this historic peace deal between Gaza and Israel amid the shutdown," said Fischer. "And you would have thought that that would be reflected in his approval ratings. What we're seeing is that the country has basically forgotten about that peace deal and is totally focused on not getting access to their health care benefits, their SNAP and food benefits."
This means two things, she continued: "A, it shows you where the country's priorities are in terms of domestic policy over foreign policy, but B, it also shows you that he could do as much as he says he wants to do in terms of brokering peace and Nobel Peace Prizes, and Ukraine and Russia and Israel, Gaza. And it doesn't matter if people are struggling here at home. That's all that's going to matter."
"And the attempt to put it on Democrats seems to have floundered, right? To call it the 'Schumer Shutdown' or that sort of thing," said Cornish. "The numbers, at least in this early polling, aren't suggesting that that's how people receive that information."
"Democrats have done a terrible job for the most part of messaging throughout the end of the Biden administration and into the 2024 election, but they've nailed it in terms of the shutdown messaging around Republicans are taking away your health care," agreed Fischer. "People generally seem to understand that that's where the Democrats are trying to hold firm. And I think that's why you're seeing that reflected in these approval ratings."
- YouTube www.youtube.com
