Transcript: Trump Press Sec Awkwardly Undercuts Him after SNAP Tirade

Dayen: Yeah, I mean, this is how the entire shutdown has gone, really—at least politically. First, Trump said, I’m going to cut off spending in blue areas, infrastructure spending, things like that. Then he said, I’m going to fire federal workers, with the implication that they’re all Democrats or something. He decided he’s going to fire all of them.

And every time he has escalated, his position has gotten worse and worse in the court of public opinion. Republicans are blamed at higher numbers for the shutdown than Democrats. That’s been consistent since day one, and nothing he’s done—none of these power moves to punish Democrats for the shutdown—none of that has changed that reality one iota.

In fact, they have either backed off doing more of these layoffs, which were really kind of minor, and spending cuts, or they’ve had them reversed in the courts, like with the SNAP—and also with the layoffs, those have been reversed in the courts as well. So they’ve gotten essentially nowhere, and it’s bled over into other areas.