President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Democrats are “holding the entire federal government hostage” during the shutdown, vowing that, “We will not be extorted on this crazy plot of theirs.”
Trump, speaking during a lunch at the White House Rose Garden, said, “Chuck Schumer and the Senate Democrats need to vote for the clean, bipartisan CR and reopen our government. It’s got to be reopened right now.”
“They are the obstructionists. And the reason they’re doing it is because we’re doing so well. We’re doing well all over the world,” Trump continued.
The president described Schumer as a politician who is in “deep trouble” and is “losing in all of the polls.”
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“He’s even losing to AOC plus three,” Trump said, referring to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and other members of the progressive “Squad.”
The government shutdown is now on its 21st day. Trump said Tuesday, “You can call it the Schumer shutdown or the Democrats shutdown.”
“You can call it whatever you want. And I will say this, that we have Darth Vader, you know, Darth Vader, right?” the president said in reference to Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought. “They call him Darth Vader. I call him a fine man, but he’s cutting Democrat priorities, and they’re never going to get them back.”
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“Many of the things that they wanted are things that we don’t want. Things that are just so bad for our country, and we’re cutting those things out,” the president said.
Trump concluded by saying, “Today I’m calling on every Senate Democrat to stop the madness, to let our country get back.”
“In the greatest moment in the history of our country, in terms of wealth, in terms of job creation and in terms of investment coming in, these guys go on strike. It’s really a shame. So I’m asking them to be smart. It’s not working. They’re getting killed in the polls,” Trump said. “The public understands what they’re doing. They’re doing the wrong thing.”
Trump also said Republicans “have to win the midterms,” and “We’re going to end up with a communist mayor in New York,” referencing Democratic socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani.
