On Friday's “CNN News Central,” Sen. Jeff Markley (D-OR) said “Trump absolutely understands that closures hurt him,” and when the government shutdown occurred in 2019, “it created a lot of leverage and strength for Democrats to take on Trump.”
“Republicans control the house. They control the Senate. They control the elliptical office. They're probably voting against our proposal to keep the government open. So I think America will understand that if there's a closure this is a Republican closure.”
He continued, “And the second concern is Trump's power in the closure. And there are some legitimate concerns about what will happen there. But let's turn the clock back in 2019 and get back what we saw in the 35-day shutdown. Well, that created a lot of leverage and power for Democrats to take on Trump back then. And now, if we stand up to him, it gives us a lot of leverage from this point forward to get the goals we have. The Republican plan is about families losing, billionaires winning. And I think Trump absolutely understands that closure hurts him. That's going to hurt that strategy. That means it will help families win and help billionaires lose.”
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