'These Republican numbers are nuts': Internet stunned by MAGA support for key Dem position

With the government shutdown fight over extending Obamacare subsidies reaching its third day on Friday, critics were left stunned after a new poll found that Republican voters were overwhelmingly in support of the Democrat-backed measure, despite GOP lawmakers taking a hardline stance against it.

“The Republican numbers here are nuts,” wrote Jordan Weissmann, writer and editor at The Argument, in an online post on X Friday.

Conducted by the nonprofit health policy organization the Kaiser Family Foundation, the poll found that 59% of Republican voters were in favor of extending Obamacare subsidies, the core issue at stake among Congress as its members fail to reach an agreement.

Of the 1,334 Americans polled by KFF between Sept. 23 and 29, a total of 78% in favor of extending the Obamacare subsidies. Democrats favored extending the subsidies at a rate of 92%, and of those that described themselves as “MAGA supporters,” 59% were in favor of extending the subsidies.

“78% think the [Affordable Care Act] tax credits should be extended, including 57% of self-described MAGA Republicans,” wrote Sen. Brad Pfaff (D-WI) in a social media post Friday on X. “Makes you wonder who Republicans in Congress are listening to--because it sure isn't the American people.”

Congressional Democratic leaders have stood firm in refusing to vote for any spending bill that doesn’t include an extension of subsidies for Obamacare, which provides federal financial assistance for Americans without employer-sponsored health insurance, commonly the self-employed or those in the service or gig industries.

With many Republican-led states having significant numbers of Obamacare enrollees, the debate has left the GOP “painfully divided,” though most ultimately sided with Republican Party leadership in refusing to support extending the Obamacare subsidies.