Tuesday morning was an opportunity for Americans to see the difference between the way Congressional Democrats do business and the circus that Donald Trump likes to run, as the President invited the Minority Leaders of each chamber, Nancy Pelosi and Charles Schumer, in to discuss border security with him at the White House.
Almost any negotiations of this sort are conducted away from cameras, but Trump, believing that his aggressive on-camera style might give him an advantage with the public by making him look forceful and strong, insisted that it was a matter of “transparency” for the press to be there.
Unfortunately for Trump, he has relied on there being no transcript of a great many such meetings so that he could claim anything he wanted about what was said — rather than the permanence of media footage now being made immediately available on the internet.
CNN was on hand, of course, and captured what turned out to be a brilliant display of strength from Pelosi, who repeatedly challenged the President to simply hold the vote in the House to pass border wall funding — which, in the end, is what Trump wants the most — knowing full well that he doesn’t have the votes even with Republican control of that chamber. The fact is that the “Freedom Caucus” members of the House are the only Republicans left who care about fiscal responsibility from their Party, and they see the wall as a giant waste.
Watch as Nancy reminds the President over and over that Republicans still control every part of the government required to pass a law:
President Trump engages in an Oval Office clash with Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi over border security as the shutdown deadline looms
Pelosi: “I don’t think we should have a debate in front of the press on this” pic.twitter.com/gopvtJKpXO
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) December 11, 2018
The biggest takeaway, however, was Trump stating unequivocally that he personally would shut down the government over wall funding:
President Trump: “I am proud to shut down the government for border security” pic.twitter.com/phEU5AvkAe
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) December 11, 2018
Over and over, Trump attempted to blame Schumer and the Democrats for the last government shutdown, but sadly, all that does is remind Americans that Trump must have literally no idea how government works — a political party that does not hold the majority is not capable of shutting down the government. They can negotiate, they can plead, they can cobble together coalitions with the opposing party, but they cannot shut down the government. Only the party that controls the White House and both chambers of Congress can do that.
“Chuck and Nancy,” as Trump likes to call them, were quick to capitalize on Trump’s admission that he would “own” the shutdown as they spoke to reporters in front of the White House, saying “The Trump Shutdown is a luxury Americans cannot afford.”
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, speaking after an Oval Office clash with President Trump, says a government shutdown is a “luxury” Americans cannot afford pic.twitter.com/jJXyCobLU3
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) December 11, 2018
Maybe Trump should think twice before trying to challenge people smarter than him live on camera to a policy showdown.
Featured image via Twitter
