On Fox News and X, it is the “Schumer Shutdown,” a stoppage of government operations caused by Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader.
On Bluesky, it is the “Trump Shutdown,” a consequence of the president’s take-no-prisoners style of governing.
Who’s responsible for the impasse? It depends on your platform.
The dueling explanations are fighting for space online and on television as part of an increasingly partisan and siloed information environment, according to an analysis of social media and TV data by The New York Times.
In the month since the government closure, Mr. Trump’s version of events has dominated the discussion on X and on Fox News, according to the analysis — a reflection of the right-wing takeover of X in recent years.
Other outlets, like MSNBC, tended to cover the shutdown using more neutral language. Terms pinning the situation on Mr. Trump and the Republicans found a larger audience on Bluesky, the upstart social network embraced by progressives.
The blame game has played out in public opinion polling, which shows that views on the matter are split along partisan lines: 84 percent of Republicans blamed Democrats, while 82 percent of Democrats blamed Republicans, according to a late-October poll from Quinnipiac University.
Here is how the war of words is playing out.
Right-wing influencers embrace the idea on X
The tagline “Schumer Shutdown” has spread more widely on X than any of the partisan messaging that Democrats and left-wing influencers have created over the government closure. There were more than 350,000 mentions of “Schumer Shutdown” or similar terms on X, compared with just 94,000 mentions of “Trump Shutdown” or similar terms, from Sept. 26 to Nov. 3.
The dynamic reflects Elon Musk’s efforts to reshape X into a right-wing haven after buying the platform in 2022 and welcoming back commentators who were once barred. Many left-wing users responded by leaving for alternatives like Bluesky. X did not respond to a request for comment.
While researchers have estimated that up to 20 percent of social media chatter may come from bots, the Times analysis found no clear indications that bots played a significant role in the conversation about the shutdown.
The most-viewed posts came from popular conservative accounts and politicians on X, including Scott Presler, a right-wing activist, who wrote a post on the first day of the shutdown that simply repeated the words “Schumer Shutdown” 15 times. It received more than 630,000 views and 13,000 shares.
The “Schumer Shutdown” tagline also received a boost from more than a dozen official government accounts, which are technically barred from political activity and had largely remained apolitical during previous shutdowns. The Department of Housing and Urban Development blamed the “Radical Left in Congress.” The Department of Homeland Security warned that “radical politicians are exploiting the Democrats’ Shutdown for political gain.”
A smaller footprint for progressives
Users on Bluesky were more likely to adopt the term #TrumpShutdown and similar terms, according to data collected by Talkwalker, a social media insights company owned by Hootsuite.
The hashtag #TrumpShutdown and similar terms had 179,348 mentions from Sept. 26 to Nov. 3, compared with just 13,383 posts using the hashtag #SchumerShutdown and similar terms. The overall conversation on the site was about three-quarters the size of the one on X, the data showed. Bluesky did not respond to a request for comment.
One of the top posts came from The Tennessee Holler, which describes itself as an “audience-supported progressive news site.” The account had warned that health care premiums would rise if the Affordable Care Act subsidy was not renewed.
“This is what Dems are drawing attention to and want fixed,” the account wrote, receiving 15,000 likes. “Now, not later.”
Comparable data from Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok were not made available by the companies.
Partisan television plays a role
On television, Fox News has remained deeply loyal to Mr. Trump’s agenda, using “Schumer Shutdown” or similar terms 268 times in the period beginning a week before the shutdown and stretching to Nov. 3, according to transcripts collected by Critical Mention, a media monitoring company.
“Democrats are just mad the Schumer Shutdown hasn’t stopped Trump from winning,” Jesse Watters, host of a prime-time show on Fox News, said on Oct. 28 as an onscreen chyron blared in all-caps: “Schumer Shutdown Is Making Dems Hangry.”
By comparison, MSNBC, the most popular news network on the left, used “Trump Shutdown” and similar terms just 106 times during the same period.
MSNBC mentioned the shutdown far more often than Fox overall, the analysis showed — 5,392 mentions of “shutdown” on MSNBC during the period, compared with 2,886 for Fox. But it did not use terminology as often that assigned blame. Fox News and MSNBC did not respond to a request for comment.
“A significant number of furloughed Americans missed their first paycheck, while others received only partial payments,” Alex Witt, a host on MSNBC, said during one segment. “As Americans struggle, lawmakers play the blame game.”
Stuart A. Thompson writes for The Times about online influence, including the people, places and institutions that shape the information we all consume.
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