Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI) did not mince words while discussing President Donald Trump's potential plan to shut down the government over funding for his proposed border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
“It is very true that he will bring on the shutdown, and he has to take responsibility for it,” Hirono said. “Any effort on his part to blame the Democrats will be such bullshit that, as I said before, I would hardly be able to stand it.”
Hirono, one of Trump's harsher critics, spoke a day after the president opted not to sign a stopgap funding bill approved by the Senate, increasing the risk of a partial government shutdown.
Foul language or not, many agreed with Hirono's assessment.
Hirono has employed similar language before. In September, she had harsh words for the Senate Judiciary Committee's handling of the sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
“I would like us to come together and figure out what is the best way to proceed,” Hirono told ABC News at the time, referring to a letter Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) sent to Senate Democrats about Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, the Stanford University professor who accused Kavanaugh of assaulting her during a high school party in the early 1980s.
“Not this seat-of-the-pants stuff,” Hirono added. “The latest, being a letter from the chairman to the Democrats saying, ‘We have done everything we can to contact her.’ That is such bullshit, I can’t hardly stand it.”
The government will shut down tonight at midnight if an agreement of some kind is not reached.
In a series of tweets, President Trump promised "a very long" shutdown if Democrats vote against funding for the wall.
According to a new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll, 69 percent of Americans believe that the wall should not be a priority for Congress. 74 percent of Democrats say that the wall shouldn't be a legislative priority at all. By contrast, 63 percent of Republicans described the wall as a "top priority." 51 percent of independent voters said they don't believe the wall should be a priority.
“With Democrats and Independents not connected with President Trump’s desire to build a border wall, it’s not surprising that they want him to compromise to avoid a government shutdown,” Lee M. Miringoff, Marist Institute for Public Opinion director, said in a press release. “On this issue, President Trump and the Republicans are on one side of the fence and Democrats and Independents are on the other.”
Among the poll's other findings:
- 53 percent of Americans approve of the way President Trump's administration has handled border protection, with 92 percent of Republicans and 26 percent of Americans expressing their support; independents, by contrast, are split (49 percent approve whereas 47 percent disapprove).
- 55 percent disapprove of the way the president is handling "irregular immigration on U.S. soil."
- 54 percent disapprove of the way the president is handling efforts to reunite families separated by his administration's "zero tolerance" family separations policy at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The partial shutdown would be the third such closure of the Trump presidency. If it occurs, it may not be settled until after the New Year.
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