National polls are showing that blame for the government shutdown is shifting to President Trump and the Republicans, which Wednesday’s “Morning Joe” panel thinks is a sign the shutdown won’t last much longer.
A Washington Post poll showed that 47% of respondents blamed Trump/GOP for the shutdown, while just 30% blamed Democrats. And a Morning Consult poll showed 43% of respondents blaming Republicans and 38% blaming Democrats.
“Again I can tell you as somebody that’s been through this, the caucus does look at this,” Joe Scarborough said on Wednesday’s show, reflecting on his time as a congressman in the 1990s. “And when I hear Republicans running around going, ‘Well we gave them a clean CR,’ poor fools you sound just like me when I was 33 years old.”
Scarborough added: “It doesn’t matter. If you’re down 17 points in a poll, people start talking in the caucuses.”
Economist Jeffrey Sachs chimed in, noting that the shift in polling leads him to believe the shutdown will end soon.
“The one issue the Democrats still have — they’re down on immigration, they’re down on crime, but they’ve got healthcare. This is why, as I’m listening to this conversation, this can’t go on much longer. Trump is sensitive to this. And if Marjorie Taylor Greene is picking up the sensitivity to it, he’s gotta. He has better political antenna than Marjorie Taylor Greene.”
Congresswoman Greene broke with Republicans earlier this week by taking to X to express concern that, should Obamacare subsidies not be extended, health insurance premiums for many Americans will increase dramatically.
“I’m going to go against everyone on this issue because when the tax credits expire this year my own adult children’s insurance premiums for 2026 are going to DOUBLE, along with all the wonderful families and hard-working people in my district,” she said.
Watch the “Morning Joe” segment on the government shutdown below.
