“Morning Joe” host Mika Brzezinski accused Vice President JD Vance of knowingly spreading lies on Thursday, following his repeated claims that the government shutdown is the result of Democrats trying to give health care coverage to illegal immigrants.
“That is not true,” Brzezinski told MSNBC viewers. “The message has been echoed by the GOP lawmakers and the Trump administration in recent days, but is highly misleading, as U.S. law prohibits unauthorized immigrants from gaining any federally subsidized health care coverage.”
“The Democrats’ bill would not change the existing law,” the “Morning Joe” anchor explained. “The changes sought by Democrats would only extend medicaid coverage to immigrants whom the federal government has labeled as lawfully present, but who have not been formally given legal status.” Brzezinski criticized Vance, in particular, for instigating a rampant flow of misinformation.
“The vice president [is] again saying things that are not true,” Brzezinski observed. “It is tough to counter this message when it then ripples through different members of Congress, social media accounts and folks on the Right. It’s hard to push back against so many lies going in one direction.” This misdirection is why Brzezinski said she has become “defensive” of Democrats in recent days.
“Everyone’s going, ‘Why aren’t the Democrats doing more? Why can’t the Democrats get [some] backbone?’” she remarked. “I believe the Republicans are in charge, and we have lies trickling down from the top. It’s really hard.”
The Lincoln Project co-founder Rick Wilson then told Brzezinski what he believes is not only the flaw of the Republicans’ messaging, but also the opportunity that the government shutdown has presented to the Democratic Party. “They’re not trying to appeal to the middle of America or to the majority of America,” he said of Vance & Co.’s comments. “They’re trying to produce content for the Fox News conveyor belt, and so they’re going to lie about these things.”
“Look at what the Republicans are doing. They’re attributing blame to the Democrats that does not exist,” Wilson noted when asked how Democrats should counter Republican officials. “The Democrats have the opportunity to point out to America, once again, [that] Donald Trump rules Washington with an iron fist. He controls the House, the Senate and the Supreme Court and the White House. He’s the guy who chose this.”
As for what he believes the Democrats’ message should be, Wilson answered: “This is crazy and Donald Trump is hurting you. This is crazy. Donald Trump is hurting you.” Brzezinski, meanwhile, added that she believes Democrats should call out not only Trump, but also Vance and the media personalities who openly support their administration.
“I think it needs to go beyond Donald Trump,” Brzezinski said. “It needs to go to those who are holding up the lies.”