FINALLY: With the End in Sight, Networks Admit Democrats Caused the Gov’t Shutdown

Just like they waited until either Joe Biden had bumbled in the June 2024 debate or he was out of office to admit he wasn’t in charge of his faculties, the “Big Three” of ABC, CBS, and NBC awoke Monday morning by telling viewers it was Democrats who had a “whole strategy” to “drive the country into a shutdown,” but lost out when eight defectors “back[ed] away from what they’ve been demanding” on ObamaCare subsidies.

Having done plenty of heavy lifting for the left in this shutdown, ABC’s Good Morning America was predictably miffed their team caved, leaving them hanging:

 

Scott tried to make it better by relitigating the fight about food stamp payments and whether the Trump administration could be forced to pay them out in a shutdown, but it came off more like coping with their loss.

Also crestfallen, NBC’s Today was arguably even more despondent over this betrayal.

They similarly admitted Democrats caused the shutdown, saying health care subsidies were “the reason Democrats had pushed for the shutdown in the first place” and that seven Senate Democrats were the ones who “decided it was time to bring the shutdown to the end” and the suffering of hungry Americans:

 

After Nobles’s package mixed up Nevada’s Democrat senators, senior Washington correspondent Hallie Jackson continued this theme of openly admitting it was the left all along who caused Americans to go without food and paychecks:

 

She then stated her thoughts on why the liberal base is incensed with Democrats, pointing to the fact that they’ve avoided any real blame for the shutdown in polling and swept last week’s elections in California, New Jersey, New York, and Virginia:

 

Over on CBS Mornings, their lead-off report didn’t say the quiet part out loud. Political correspondent Caitlin Huey-Burns merely said the procedural vote “was a huge moment towards ending this government shutdown and it’s going to take a few more hurdles this week in order for the government to reopen.”

“Eight members of the Democratic caucus joined Republicans Sunday night in voting to move ahead with a government funding bill...The move...would fund the government through January 30, reverse the layoffs of federal workers during the shut down, and guarantee back pay. It also includes three longer-term funding bills, including additional money for SNAP or food assistance benefits,” she added.

Huey-Burns only framed the ObamaCare subsidies as “a key demand from Democrats” before emphasizing it would take a few more days for the government and any services to return to full sound. In turn, SNAP (or food stamp) payments would “still be in limbo” and more strain on food banks that “saw a flurry of traffic this weekend.”

This was all she would offer on why most Democrats oppose reopening the government:

DOKOUPIL: Can you explain why some prominent Democrats are angry and against voting for this?

HUEY-BURNS: Yeah, frustration is the word we’ve been hearing because this didn’t include any health care policy that they had been fighting for. Ro Khanna, a congressman from California — a prominent one — said that Chuck Schumer should resign because of this. And, notably, outside of Washington, you’re hearing a lot of frustration as well. Governor — California Governor Gavin Newsom called this a betrayal and a capitulation[.]

The show’s second hour began with Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), one of the five Senate Democrats who flipped from wanting to keep the government closed to support its reopening. Unfortunately for Shaheen, she faced some tough questions, starting with this:

 

It got worse with Dokoupil spitting more facts about who caused the shutdown:

 

Co-host Gayle King joined the conversation, focusing on members of Congress having been paid during the shutdown (click “expand”):

KING: What does this say to you that every year it seems like we’re having this conversation, if it’s not resolved, then the can is kicked down the road. Why is this so difficult? Number one; and number two, why can’t we come up with a way that Congress, you guys don’t get paid until these people get paid. It seems to me, if they had that kind of scenario, they would work this stuff out. I keep thinking, suppose we weren’t paid here at CBS when we didn’t do anything wrong, but the people making the decisions are still getting paid. I wrestle with this. It makes no sense when I see what is happening to the government workers in this country. So the first question I said, why is this so difficult?

SHAHEEN: Well, what I hear most from my constituents is, why can’t you just work together to address the problems facing this country? I think this bipartisan agreement gives us an opportunity, hopefully, to turn the page on that, but we do need a long-term way to address the fact that we should not be putting workers at risk, the people of this country at risk when we have policy disagreements and I think there’s real interest in trying to do that, and I hope there is real — a real commitment, what we’ve heard from many of our Republican colleagues in the Senate is that they’re willing to work on health care. Now we can hold them accountable. We’re going to have a vote. We’re going to see if they’re really willing to work on it, and if they’re not, the people of America can hold them accountable.

Dokoupil closed by wondering what she thinks about Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) future as the leader of Senate Democrats (click “expand”):

DOKOUPIL: A lot of people in your own party think [Schumer] should be out of a job. Ro Khanna is one person who is saying that this morning. You worked with him to get to this moment of potential breakthrough. What do you make of the criticism? Do you think his days are numbered as leader?

SHAHEEN: Well, I think the House members who are critical should stay focused on what they can do in the House to ensure that we have a vote on health care and to make sure that we hold Speaker Johnson and President Trump, who are responsible, accountable for where we are. The fact is —

DOKOUPIL: Well, Senator —

SHAHEEN: — what this agreement is going to do is it’s going to force Speaker Johnson to bring the House back in. He’s been out since the beginning of September. It’s going to force him to come back in and to deal with health care and all kinds of other issues.

DOKOUPIL: Senator, I apologize for — I could have — I said, Ro Khanna, I could have said Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. I could have named a whole bunch of people. There’s people on the Senate side as well.

SHAHEEN: And as I said, they should stay focused on who is responsible for this problem. It’s not Chuck Schumer. It’s Speaker Johnson, it’s President Trump. It’s the Republicans who have refused to have a vote on health care. Now, we have this opportunity, and we’re going to take it, and the people of America will have a chance to see who is on their side.

To see the relevant transcripts from November 10, click here (for ABC), here (for CBS), and here (for NBC).