President Donald Trump argued Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer went “too far” as some Democrats demand their party leader be replaced during a wide-ranging interview on “The Ingraham Angle” Monday.
“I think he made a mistake in going too far,” Trump told Fox News host Laura Ingraham. “He thought he could break the Republicans, and the Republicans broke him.”
Eight senators broke rank with the Democratic Party on Sunday, voting for the House-passed spending plan to reopen the government that their Democratic colleagues blocked 14 times.
The Senate voted 60-40 Monday to end the government shutdown, with the final vote going to the House later this week.
As Democrats like Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) consequently call for Schumer to be replaced, Trump says he’s “never seen a politician change so much.”
“I feel badly ‘cause I know Chuck Schumer,” Trump said.
“I’ve known him since he was a person who loved Israel, and now he’s a Palestinian. He’s become a Palestinian… I’ve never seen a politician change so much.”
The longest government shutdown in history revolved around Congress’ debate over extending Obamacare subsidies and led to thousands of workers being furloughed, flights being cancelled nationwide and food aid expiring.
The president argued the real motive behind Democrats’ fight was a desire to extend the subsidies.
“What they really wanted was $1.5 trillion for people that came in illegally, people that come in through and out of prisons,” Trump argued.
“We’re trying to get them out, because we don’t want 11,000 murderers in our country. You don’t it. Nobody wants it,” Trump stressed. “And we have drug dealers, and we have everything else, and they wanted to make sure they got good healthcare.”
Paying for illegal immigrants’ healthcare would have “hurt other people’s healthcare,” Trump added.
The president later tore into Obamacare as “horrible” health insurance that is too expensive.
“The premiums have gone up like rocket ships,” Trump lamented. “And I’m not even talking about just recently, I’m talking about for years they’ve been going up.”
He instead advocated for insurance holders to “feel like entrepreneurs.”
“I want, instead of going to the insurance companies, I want the money to go to an account for people where the people buy their own health insurance,” Trump said.
“They’re actually able to go out and negotiate their own insurance.”
When Ingraham asked the president how Republicans can avoid another government shutdown from occurring on Jan. 30, 2026, when current funding levels are set to expire, he previewed a new bill.
“Well, we’re trying to put in a bill, as you know, or a bill that you can never do that again,” Trump responded.
“You can’t just shut down the government because you’re trying renegotiate a deal that you didn’t.”
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