The hosts of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” argued Monday that this fall’s government shutdown, which may be nearing its end, has left Democrats in a “pretty good place” in American voters’ eyes.
“This has exposed just how much the Republican Party hates the idea of helping working Americans,” host Joe Scarborough said, in reaction to the news that eight centrist Senate Democrats broke ranks with their fellow party members Sunday to come to a deal with Senate Republicans. As a result, the longest government shutdown in American history is expected to end sooner rather than later.
“I wish Democrats for once, just once, could take a win, and then understand the Republicans, they were never going to help working Americans,” Scarborough added, advising Democrats to not lose too much sleep over their eight colleagues’ deal with Republicans. “They learned that through this process. You know who else learned that through this process? The American voter.”
“The reality of what this Republican Party stands for today, the reality of what Donald Trump was fighting for this past week, that will stay with voters for years to come,” he further insisted. “Morning Joe” co-host Jonathan Lemire agreed, arguing against the frustrations felt by some Democrats who believe they could have forced a better deal from Republicans.
“I think for Democrats, short-term, there’s frustration, but long-term, yes, they have used this shutdown to underscore the point you just made,” Lemire told Scarborough. “Republicans are out of touch. Republicans don’t care about the little guy. Republicans care about the wealthy and the tax cuts for the rich and building ballrooms and the like.”
“This was not a perfect ideological win. The battle for health care justice? That continues,” Scarborough observed. “But again, it continues with this debate framed [as] the whole world knows where the Republican Party sits. They don’t care that health care premiums continue to explode.”
“They don’t care about anything, it seems, out of the White House, except for cutting taxes for the richest of the richest of the rich,” the “Morning Joe” host added. “Last week they announced more of these cuts! They don’t care about working Americans. They care, again, about granting clemency to felons.”
The former Republican congressman concluded, “That’s a pretty good place for Democrats to be in as they move forward and debate where this country goes over the next year.”
