Fox News Reporter Calls Out Speaker Johnson for Blaming Shutdown on Dems: Doesn’t That Mean ‘You Don’t Have the Votes?’

Fox News’ Chad Pergram did not buy Speaker of the House Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) preemptive attempt to blame congressional Democrats for the government shutdown that will ensue if the House fails to pass funding bill supported by Johnson.

During a press conference on Tuesday, Johnson blasted congressional Democrats who refuse to support what he called a “clean CR.”

“Here’s the bottom line —  if congressional Democrats refused to support this clean CR, they will be responsible for every troop who misses a paycheck, for every flight delay from reduced staffing at TSA, for every negative consequence that comes from shutting down the government,” Johnson told assembled reporters before ending on an insult. “If Democrat colleagues want to increase their 21% approval rating with the American public, they ought to start by doing the right thing in keeping government open.”

“You continually criticized the Democrats,” Pergram noted. “Doesn’t that imply that you don’t have the votes on your side because you wouldn’t need Democratic assistance to keep the government open?

“No, we’ll have the votes. We’re going to pass the CR. We can do it on our own,” Johnson insisted despite reporting that a number of House Republicans are currently planning to vote against it. “But what I’m saying is Democrats ought to do the responsible thing, follow their own advice in every previous scenario, and keep the government open. It’s their choice.”

Watch above via Fox News.