More Americans blame President Donald Trump for the government shutdown than Democrats, a major poll revealed Thursday.
The Washington Post, which is growing more MAGA by the day, reported 47 percent of Americans feel the GOP is the culprit behind the government shutdown—compared to 30 percent who blame Democratic lawmakers and 23 percent who are “not sure.”
The rare win for Democrats, who lost the White House and are the minority party in the House and Senate, comes as Trump is desperately trying to pin the shutdown—and the many furloughs that come with it—as a Democrat-caused issue.
The Post said its poll was conducted across 1,010 Americans it texted. The paper claimed that those who were messaged make up a “nationally representative sample.”
Some respondents to the Post said Republicans’ trifecta means the issue is theirs to own.
A 48-year-old woman from Montana, listed as an “Independent/other,” placed the blame on Republicans. She justified her decision by writing, “Because all branches of government are currently controlled by Republicans, yet they are somehow blaming Democrats for their inability to get something figured out that both parties agree on.”
While Trump is footing more of the blame for now, the issue is not of great concern for the majority of Americans surveyed. When asked about their feelings on the shutdown, the Post said the most frequent response was “somewhat concerned.”
Those most impacted by a government shutdown are workers who are on the federal payroll. Around 40 percent of the federal workforce—approximately 750,000 people—go on unpaid leave during a shutdown. Millions of others, including U.S. troops and TSA agents, are forced to continue working without pay.
Trump, 79, has begun trolling Democrats over the issue by using artificial intelligence to put sombreros and a mustache on top leaders, like Speaker Hakeem Jeffries, in clips he and others have shared on social media.
Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, who has fully forgiven Trump for once insulting the appearance of his wife, edited sombreros and mustaches onto 44 Senate Democrats on Wednesday. He said the head-scratching bit will continue “until they re-open our government.”
The Trump administration has controversially plastered a message on federally-funded websites assigning blame for the shutdown to the “Radical Left,” something criticized as a Hatch Act violation—though MAGA 2.0 has repeatedly displayed it does not care about maintaining political norms.
The White House press office has also gotten in on the act. Requests to its media inbox are now met with an auto-reply message that delays are to be expected when seeking comment—thanks to Democrats, of course.
“Due to staff shortages resulting from the Democrat Shutdown, the typical 24/7 monitoring of this press inbox may experience delays,” says the email from the White House Press Office. “We ask for your patience as our staff work to field your requests promptly.”
It continues, “As you await a response, please remember this could have been avoided if the Democrats voted for the clean Continuing Resolution to keep the government open.”
The post Trump’s Spin Not Convincing Voters Dems Are Responsible for Shutdown appeared first on The Daily Beast.
