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WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today joined Guy Benson on Fox News Radio.
On Democrats’ shutdown hypocrisy:
“[Democrats] are blaming Trump at the same time they’re taking credit, and almost in the same breath … Republicans want our troops paid. We want the men and women of the Border Patrol to get paid. We want TSA agents, every federal employee to get their paychecks.
“And right now, the Democrats are the ones standing in the way of that, but they’re trying to shift the blame and have it both ways.”
On the consequences of Democrats’ shutdown:
“I really hope … that this is the week that Democrats decide to end their shutdown, and they are owning it … I think people realize that [Democrats] have consistently now, 14 times … voted to block reopening the government.
“I do think that the consequences are really starting to compound across the country. You’ve got now 40 million Americans whose food assistance is uncertain. You’ve got air travel delays that are skyrocketing. It’s having an economic impact on the country, and I think that only gets worse with each passing day.
“We need five more Democrats to stand up and do the right thing and reopen the government, and we’ll see if this is the week.”
On Democrats prioritizing their far-left base:
“[Democrats are] trying to pull this thing off where they blame somebody else, and yet they get credit with their political base, and that’s what’s driving this. I mean, they’re so afraid – Schumer and their leaders are just absolutely running scared.
“They are scared spitless of what their base will do to them if they vote to open up the government, which is why, in the end, I don’t think it’s going to be their leaders that do this. I think it’s going to be rank-and-file Democrats.”
On preserving the legislative filibuster:
“There just simply aren’t the votes to get rid of the Senate’s 60-vote threshold … It was an important tool for us when we were in the minority. You only have to look back to last year, we blocked a whole host of terrible Democrat policies because of the 60-vote threshold. And if you look at all the damage that Biden and Harris did to our country … I shudder to think how much worse it would have been without the legislative filibuster.
“And here’s the thing: The Democrats, as you point out – although they’re hypocrites, because they would all vote to block it today, they would all vote when they have the majority in favor of it – but the truth is that if we were to do their dirty work for them, and that’s what essentially we’d be doing, then we would own all the crap they’re going to do if and when they get the chance to do it.”