Sen. Jeff Markley (D-OR) said Thursday that his fellow Democrats would need to “take over” President Donald Trump on CNN's “arena.”
He argued that “best time” was “to take on a tyrant as early as possible.”
Markley said, “You don't stop bullying by giving him lunch money, and don't stop tyrant Trump by voting to give him more power. That's absolutely the wrong approach. Some say with the shutdown, the president may have more power than we saw in the previous shutdown. There are valid cases on both sides of this debate.”
He continued. “But here's what I know, because in history you see deteriorating in a republic with an authoritarian president, the courts will have a cave and a congress where you have silent congress. The best time to take on a tyrant is as soon as possible, and this is the moment. We have the leverage as a democratic caucus to advocate for negotiations. This is the moment to use that leverage.”
“I think the concerns about Republicans closing their government would hurt politically, as it's Republicans who do that,” Merckley said.
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