White House Warns of ‘A Lot of Pain Inflicted’ On Americans From the Shutdown

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt warned the American public on Monday that they are in for “a lot of pain” as the government shutdown continues.

“The president has said he wants the government to reopen this week in a deal. What’s going to happen by the end of the week if there’s no deal with the White House?” asked the Washington Free Beacon’s Jon Levine.

“With what? No deal with what?” Leavitt pressed.

“To reopen the government,” Levine clarified.

“Look, as I said, unfortunately, there’s going to be a lot of pain inflicted. There already is on the American public, on our troops who are not being paid, again on women and young children who depend on critical food assistance,” Leavitt replied, adding:

We hate to see this, and in fact, the Office of Management and Budget is trying to do everything they can to find funds to get out the door for these vulnerable populations in our country. Again, we shouldn’t be having to do that. The Democrats have a chance to change course tonight. I believe the vote is taking place at 6:30, and we urge Democrat senators to vote to reopen the government and to do the right thing. Thanks, guys.

A new CBS News/YouGov poll, conducted between Oct. 1 and Oct. 3 among 2,441 adults, found more Americans blame Republicans (39%) than blame Democrats (31%) for the ongoing shutdown. Fifty-two percent also disapprove of how both President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans are handling the shutdown.

Watch the clip above via Fox News.