Even ABC News Is Blaming Dems for the Schumer Shutdown
Republicans see a clear narrative: Democrats own this shutdown. The media’s lack of sympathetic, human-interest pieces tells you where the wind is blowing. Major outlets would run those stories if they thought it helped Democrats politically.
Over the weekend, even ABC News pushed back against the Schumer strategy. That mattered because it undercuts the usual media reflex to defend Democratic maneuvers. When network hosts start framing the story this way, the political cover for the left frays.
Speaker Mike Johnson pointed to the obvious contrast between rhetoric and reality at the “No Kings” rallies. “The irony of the message is pretty clear for everyone,” Johnson said. “If President Trump was a king, the government would be open right now. If President Trump was a king, they would not have been able to engage in that free speech exercise.”
Johnson also reminded viewers that the federal grounds remained accessible under this administration. “President Trump hasn’t closed it. In the last shutdown, the 2013 era, President Obama closed the national mall. Closed all the national parks. Didn’t allow people to engage in all this.”
Johnson was blunt about who benefits from Democrats’ tactics. “Chuck Schumer needs cover right now. He’s closed the government down because he needs political cover,” Johnson added. That line lands because it names motive, not just consequence.
On ABC, host Jon Karl walked through the basic votes and facts for the audience. “The Democrats did not vote for the clean funding bill,” Karl said. “They have chosen to shut the government down to fight for the healthcare and the other items you mentioned.”
Karl also asked why the House wasn’t convened, forcing Johnson to outline the GOP case on policy. “First of all, we’re fighting for healthcare as well,” Johnson replied. “Not just in word, but in deed. We put it in the One Big Beautiful Bill, the working families tax cut, real reforms to Medicaid to make it work better to preserve the program. Because we had illegal aliens receiving benefits. We had young, able-bodied men who were not working, they do not have dependents, they were riding the wagon.”
Johnson warned that the Democrats’ counterproposal would undo those reforms and make the system worse. “In their counter proposal, what Chuck Schumer is arguing for is he wants to reverse those reforms, which would be a terrible policy decision for the people.” That is the core disagreement: reform and accountability versus expansion without checks.
The spending plan Democrats keep rejecting would hold current funding levels steady while lawmakers write a new budget. Meanwhile, Democrats are demanding trillions in spending for illegal immigrants’ healthcare as well as Leftist pet projects around the globe, including climate change initiatives and LGBTQ grants in the Balkans and Africa. That framing matters to voters worried about priorities and fiscal sanity.
Watchfulness from conservative outlets and pushback from mainstream hosts have shifted how the shutdown reads in public. When even typically sympathetic platforms parse the votes and motives, it strips away the usual obfuscation. That clarity helps voters assign responsibility.
Editor’s Note: The Schumer Shutdown is here. Rather than put the American people first, Chuck Schumer and the radical Democrats forced a government shutdown for healthcare for illegals. They own this.
