On Monday, FiveThirtyEight’s Nate Silver took to Twitter to criticize Republicans for “spiking the football” over their victory of now-Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court.
“[I]t’s striking the degree to which the GOP governs as though it’s only interested in 47% of the country … instead of shooting for 51%, in which case these structural advantages could allow it to have supermajorities in Congress,” Silver wrote. “The football-spiking after Kavanaugh was confirmed this weekend was one such example.”
While it is true that the Republican Party was enthused and celebrated openly, this type of response isn’t reserved for just the GOP. Here are nine times the Democrats participated in “football-spiking.”
1. Declaring Early Victory Before Losing The 2016 Election
Several celebrities and prominent Democrats doubted Trump could possibly win in 2016 and openly mocked him. After Donald Trump was nominated as the Republican nominee for the 2016 election, Democrats seized the opportunity to declare an early victory, including his opponent Hillary Clinton. This inspired her to not think twice when labeling his voter base a “basket of deplorables.”
2. Democrats Taunt Republicans: “Na Na Na Na…”
Oddly enough, after House Republicans successfully passed a replacement for Obamacare, Democrats began to taunt them, believing that their votes would ensure them a victory in the 2018 midterms. “Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye!” they sang, as if they were at a high school football game.
3. Obama: “I Won”
In a closed-door meeting with Republican congressional leaders in 2009, Obama tried to assert his dominance and told them “I won” after they expressed concern about his stimulus package.
4. Obama: “Because I Won,” Again
Frustrated at Republican opposition, Obama found it necessary to brag about winning the presidency twice. In his 2015 State of the Union address, he told the audience, “I have no more campaigns to run,” adding “I know because I won both of them.”
5. Iran Deal “Victory”
After President Barack Obama signed the Iran nuclear agreement in 2015 — which was deemed to be his key foreign policy achievement — Democrats widely celebrated. As Omri Ceren, the national security advisor for Ted Cruz, noted, there was not much “magnanimity” from Democrats, but rather “tweets and press briefings from the Obama bros gleefully boasting they won.”
6. Obamacare’s A “Big F***ing Deal”
After signing Obamacare into law in 2010, Joe Biden famously described the victory as a “big f***ing deal.” Obama did a victory lap for passing what he calls “the call of history,” claiming they “pushed back on the undue influence of special influence,” adding “We didn’t give in to mistrust or to cynicism or to fear.”
7. “It’s Constitutional, B*tches.”
In 2012, the Supreme Court decided to uphold the Affordable Care Act. This triggered celebration from the Democratic Party including from the Democratic National Committee Executive Director at the time, Patrick Gaspard, who tweeted “It’s constitutional, B*tches.”
8. “We Wrote An Iron-Clad Constitutional Bill”
In 2015, the Supreme Court decided to uphold a core tenet causing Democratic leaders to host an actual party in celebration. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) hosted a party. “The fact is we wrote an iron-clad constitutional bill so let us take credit,” Pelosi said at the time.
“I feel so fulfilled about having a stamp of approval on two separate occasions from the Supreme Court and now maybe, maybe, finally … the naysayers, the Tea Party-driven Republicans, will leave the American people alone and let them enjoy their healthcare,” Reid said.
9. No Funding For The Border Wall In 2017
In 2017, the Democrats managed to prevent funding for a southern border wall. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) called the Democratic victory a “defeat” for President Donald Trump. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called the wall a “poison pill” and vowed to shut down the government.