Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) was laughed off the podium after dismissing a New York Times poll showing that Americans blame Democrats for the government shutdown.
“Now I know the leader is going to show a poll that says that Democrats will be blamed for the shutdown. There are many more polls that show Republicans are to blame. The question in that poll is biased,” Schumer said, referring to the New York Times/Siena College survey.
“In the New York Times, but it’s biased,” he continued, prompting Republicans across the chamber to erupt into laughter. “I don’t always believe the New York Times … You can be sure of that. Neither do you.”
Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) have pushed the Trump administration to extend Affordable Care Act tax credits and guarantee taxpayer-funded health care “for all.” Republicans and the White House rejected the proposals, saying Democrats were demanding taxpayer-funded health care for illegal immigrants.
“If you look at the original they did with this negotiation, it was a $1.5 trillion spending package, basically saying the American people want to give massive amounts of money, hundreds of billions of dollars to illegal aliens for their health care, while Americans are struggling to pay their health care bills,” Vice President JD Vance said following a White House meeting with congressional leaders.
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While Democrats were divided on whether to shut down the government over their demands, Republicans and independents have remained firmly opposed.
The NYT/Siena poll, conducted just before the Oct. 1 deadline, found that only 27 percent of respondents supported Democrats shutting down the government if their demands were not met.
