The public continues to blame Republicans more than Democrats for the government shutdown despite the GOP’s best efforts to convince the people otherwise.
In an ABC News-Washington Post-Ipsos poll released Thursday, 45% of respondents said President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans are responsible for the shutdown, while 33% said congressional Democrats are responsible, and another 22% were not sure.
The survey comes as leading figures in the Trump administration, such as Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, have hit the airwaves about the consequences of the shutdown, including nationwide airport delays, as they seek to keep Senate Democrats on the defensive for not backing the House-passed continuing resolution to end the shutdown.
In Congress, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) have battled to do the same. The shutdown is entering its 31st day, marking one of the longest on record.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, a government welfare program, is set to expire Saturday, a development Republicans have further tried to capitalize on to push Democrats into voting the CR across the finish line.
“SNAP recipients shouldn’t go without food. People should be getting paid in this country. And we tried to do that 13 times! You voted ‘no’ 13 times!” Thune said on Wednesday. “This isn’t a political game. These are real people’s lives we’re talking about, and you all have just figured out, 29 days in, that, ‘Oh, there might be some consequences?’”
But despite their best efforts, Republicans have only managed to sway public opinion by the narrowest of margins, according to polls. A poll released at the beginning of October showed results similar to the survey released on Wednesday.
The poll from the Washington Post found 47% of respondents said they blamed Republicans in Congress or Trump, while 30% said Democrats were to blame. Twenty-three percent said they were unsure of who was responsible.
LOOMING SNAP DEADLINE AMPS UP PRESSURE ON BOTH TRUMP AND DEMOCRATS
The shutdown was triggered at the start of October when Senate Democrats blocked the passage of the CR passed by the House. Thune needs five more Democrats to join Republicans in the upper chamber to push the CR across the finish line.
The legislation has stalled as Thune remains in a gridlock with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who argues provisions extending Obamacare tax subsidies must be attached to the CR to gain his support.
