The hosts of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” expressed hope Thursday morning that House and Senate Republicans may finally be starting to realize the “cost” that the ongoing government shutdown is having — and will continue to have — on their own red state voters.
The morning’s segment on the government shutdown came after Senate Majority Leader John Thune said this week that conversations have started again in earnest between Republicans and Democrats. “It’s almost as if, over the past several days, Republicans have figured out that Medicaid cuts impact red states as much, or more than, they impact blue states,” host Joe Scarborough observed.
“Cuts to SNAP benefits make children in Missouri and Georgia and, even though Tommy Tuberville doesn’t know it, Alabama hungry,” Scarborough continued, referencing the upcoming deadline when Americans’ SNAP benefits will run out because of the shutdown. “The cutting of these benefits are going to hurt [Republican] voters as much or more than it’s going to hurt Democratic voters.”
Scarborough expressed hope that the shutdown may be closer to ending than continuing. That sentiment was echoed by “Morning Joe” panelist and former U.S. Special Envoy to Northern Ireland Richard Haass, who observed, “It’s the point in every war: It’s easier to get into it than it is to get out of it. I think right now there are people who are seeing the cost of this.”
You can check out the full “Morning Joe” segment yourself in the video below.
Scarborough, for his part, reflected on some of his own experiences dealing with a government shutdown when he was a Florida congressman. “It seemed like a great thing to do at first, shutting down the government to try to balance the budget,” Scarborough recalled. “But I remember when things got real. You were shocked by the number of people that were calling you, that were [your] constituents, [when] the government and government programs and jobs and everything was hitting [lows]. You were getting calls from [everywhere].”
“My mom called me at the end of one day when it was really dragging on,” Scarborough revealed. “She goes, ‘How’s it going up there, Joey?’ I go, ‘I did not sign up for this.’”
“I think [Republicans are] about at that stage now,” the “Morning Joe” host concluded. “Because they’re not hearing from left-wing hippie protesters in their districts. They’re hearing from their neighbors. They’re hearing from their friends. They’re being pulled aside at church. They’re being told, ‘Hey, this is really hurting me,’ or, ‘This is hurting my family.’”
