A handful of Senate Democrats teamed up with Republicans for a deal to end the government shutdown this week, largely based on a promise to eventually vote on extending ACA health care subsidies. There was no designation of when the vote would be, or even a promise that it would pass, so on Monday night, Seth Meyers mocked Dems for turning into a character from “Dumb & Dumber.”
To kick off his “A Closer Look” segment, the NBC host reminded viewers of just how rough things have gotten for Republicans during the shutdown, which resulted in massive, sweeping victories for Democrats on election night last week. With a pretty long list of how things have gone wrong, Meyers then joked that it was definitely the perfect time to cave.
“Democrats, are you seeing this? Why are you caving to this guy in a span of like, five days?” he asked. “He got crushed in elections, got booed a football game, fell asleep in a meeting, and you guys saw that and thought, ‘There’s no way we could beat this guy. He’s at the top of his game.’”
Explaining why 10 Democrats opted to give in and make a deal with Republicans, Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) told MSNBC that a promise to vote on health care was a win. King argued that “a reasonable chance, 10, 20%, 30% is a lot better than 0%.”
“You guys caved for a 10% chance of success? You’re supposed to be senators, not Lloyd Christmas!” Meyers said with a chuckle. “Also, I hate to break it to you, but it’s still 0%. You and I know this Republican Party is not going to work with Democrats, and yet some Democrats are still capable of deluding themselves into thinking cooperation is possible.”
For those unfamiliar, Lloyd Christmas is a character from “Dumb & Dumber,” played by Jim Carrey. In one of his most famous scenes from the film, he asks a woman what the chances are of her ever ending up with him, and she answers one in a million.
“So you’re telling me there’s a chance!” Lloyd replies excitedly.
For Meyers, Democrats effectively had the same response, even after hearing House Speaker Mike Johnson outright refused a specific date on the vote on November 6. So, the late night host shamed them further.
“Look, no one likes a shutdown, but this is the worst way to cave,” he said. “Democrats had Trump on the ropes. Voters were on their side. Trump was getting booed, losing elections, and holding press conferences in the Oval Office so he could sleep again.”
