CNN Plays Brutal Clip of Chuck Schumer Deeming Government Shutdowns a ‘Politics of Idiocy’
CNN’s Manu Raju aired a clip of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) calling government shutdowns the “politics of idiocy” amidst the ongoing partial shutdown initiated by his caucus.
On Inside Politics Thursday, Raju referenced the 2013 shutdown when Republicans and Democrats found themselves at a similar impasse over Obamacare and the federal budget. That shutdown lasted for 16 days. Raju played a clip of Schumer discussing the matter at the time.
Raju reported:
And 2013, of course, it was the Republicans who had initiated that fight. They wanted to defund Obamacare as they were trying to fund the federal government. Democrats said no. It led to shutdown more than two weeks long. Republicans ultimately capitulated, and the government reopened. Chuck Schumer. You may have heard of him, his name. He is now leading the charge on the Democratic side as Senate Democratic leader. He was not the top Senate Democrat then, but he had a lot of influence, and he also had a lots of views about how Republicans were pushing this issue back then.
In the clip, Schumer raged at Republicans, accusing them of using a shutdown for political benefit.
“What if I persuaded my caucus to say I’m going to shut the government down, I am going to not pay our bills unless I get my way? It’s a politics of idiocy, of confrontation, of paralysis,” he said.
Raju noted that Schumer’s own words are now being used by Republicans, many of whom have blamed Democrats’ push for healthcare subsidies for the current shutdown. Democrats and Republicans have not managed to reach a funding agreement, with Republicans accusing Democrats of fighting for healthcare for illegal immigrants.
Schumer has been standing firm in this funding fight. He led Democratic senators this week in stopping a stopgap funding bill that would reopen the government. In his remarks in the Senate, Schumer laid blame for the shutdown at President Donald Trump’s feet.
“October 1 — the first full day of Donald Trump’s government shutdown. Donald Trump and Republicans have barreled us into a shutdown, because they refuse to protect Americans’ healthcare,” he said. “It’s clear that the way out of this shutdown is to sit down with Democrats to address the looming healthcare crisis that faces tens of millions of American families.”
Watch above via CNN.
