{"id":1679,"date":"2025-10-02T23:37:43","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T23:37:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/firearmgiveawayfinder.com\/?p=1679"},"modified":"2025-10-02T23:37:43","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T23:37:43","slug":"americans-arent-buying-trumps-shutdown-blame-game-mother-jones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/firearmgiveawayfinder.com\/?p=1679","title":{"rendered":"Americans Aren\u2019t Buying Trump\u2019s Shutdown Blame Game \u2013 Mother Jones"},"content":{"rendered":"


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President Donald Trump and his cronies have sought to blame the shutdown on Democrats. Polling suggests voters aren’t buying it.<\/span>Hu Yousong\/Xinhua\/Zuma<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Get your news from a source that\u2019s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily<\/em>.<\/a><\/div>\n

As Democrats and<\/span> Republicans trade accusations over which party is responsible for the government shutdown, new polling suggests that President Donald Trump\u2019s efforts to falsely claim\u2014in social media posts<\/a>, on television<\/a>, on government agencies\u2019 websites<\/a>, and in internal directives to federal employees<\/a>\u2014that Democrats shut down the government because they want to provide \u201cfree health care for illegal aliens<\/a>\u201d are not working.<\/p>\n

Nearly half of Americans blame the shutdown on Trump and Republicans in Congress, according to a new nationally representative poll of more than 1,000 Americans, conducted<\/a> by the Washington Post<\/em> on Wednesday. Meanwhile, 30 percent said they blame Democrats, and nearly a quarter of respondents said they are unsure of who to blame. Interestingly, eight percent of Republicans blame Trump and the GOP for the shutdown, higher than the two percent of Democrats who blame their own party. <\/p>\n

The White House\u2019s claims, of course, are not accurate<\/a>. Undocumented immigrants are already mostly ineligible for federal health care, and Democrats are seeking to restore access to Medicaid and Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies for documented<\/em> immigrants, including refugees and people granted asylum. The Republican spending bill passed this summer contains the Medicaid cuts, while the ACA subsidies are set to expire<\/a> at the end of this year under the Inflation Reduction Act passed in 2022. Yet, Republicans ranging from Trump, to Vice President JD Vance, to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) have made the claim that Democrats shut down the government over efforts to provide health care to undocumented people.<\/p>\n

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I questioned Speaker Mike Johnson tonight on the claim being made by Republicans that Democrats want to give free health care to \u201cillegal aliens\u201d in the government shutdown fight. pic.twitter.com\/sjvnQwxTKN<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) October 1, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Polls recorded before the shutdown officially started found similar results. An NPR\/PBS News\/Marist poll of nearly 1,500 people, conducted last week, found<\/a> that nearly 40 percent of respondents would blame Republicans for the shutdown, compared to only 27 percent who would blame Democrats. Just over thirty percent said they would blame both parties. And a New York Times<\/em>\/Siena poll of more than 1,300 registered voters, conducted last week, found<\/a> a higher proportion of respondents said they would blame Trump and Republicans than Democrats for a shutdown\u201426 percent to 19 percent\u2014though about a third said they would blame both parties equally. Just over a fifth of respondents said they had not heard enough to say.<\/p>\n

But beyond the fact that Republicans control all three branches of government, it appears as though the substance of their legislative priorities are also unpopular. The same Washington Post <\/em>poll found that a staggering 71 percent o<\/em>f respondents say that the federal subsidies that reduce the cost of ACA plans scheduled to expire at the end of the year\u2014a sticking point for Democrats in the stalled negotiations that led to the shutdown\u2014should be extended, and nearly half of respondents said Democrats should demand the extension \u201ceven if it continues a government shutdown.\u201d When you crunch the numbers, this view makes sense: A KFF analysis found<\/a> that last year, the subsidies saved enrollees an average of more than $700 last year. And a more recent analysis found<\/a> that extending the subsidies would save enrollees an average of more than $1,000 in premium payments in 2026.<\/p>\n

Democrats, for their part, have leaned on this context as they try to spin the shutdown in their favor. \u201cRepublicans shut down the government because they would rather make health care more expensive than keep the government running,\u201d Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said<\/a> in a speech on the Senate floor. \u201cThat is literally where we are.\u201d <\/p>\n

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Trump and Republicans shut down the government because they’d rather make healthcare more expensive than keep the government running.<\/p>\n

Democrats are fighting to roll back the Republican cuts that will take away healthcare from millions.<\/p>\n

Via @SenWarren<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/1yuLz7bjOV<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Senate Democrats (@SenateDems) October 1, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n