The Democratic Party may be regretting a Wednesday night town hall that saw CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins moderating as Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) — both of whom identify as Democratic socialists — fielded questions from the public about the ongoing government shutdown.
Collins pressed Sanders on his own previous statements — namely that government shutdowns were &#8220;dangerous&#8221; to the American people because they put at risk not just those who worked for the federal government and might be furloughed, but also anyone who depended on services provided by the federal government in their daily lives.
Quoting Sanders directly, Collins said he&#8217;d referred to shutting down the government as &#8220;a serious and dangerous action that we must do everything possible to prevent,&#8221; before asking, &#8220;What would you say to people who are missing their paychecks about why it&#8217;s worth it now?&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🤔 <a href="https://t.co/04CRYe4N5y">https://t.co/04CRYe4N5y</a> <a href="https://t.co/KIRQdiFH4Y">pic.twitter.com/KIRQdiFH4Y</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1978631136931656039?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 16, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Sanders, who has repeatedly voted against the clean continuing resolution that would reopen the government, claimed that he and other Democrats would &#8220;do everything they can&#8221; to get the government reopened quickly.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_campaign=fall40&amp;utm_content=fallsale&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Get 40% off new DailyWire+ annual memberships with code FALL40 at checkout!</a>
Collins then asked Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez to explain what the end of the shutdown looked like to them — and they laughed off the idea of taking President Donald Trump and Republicans at their word that health care would be up for negotiations. Instead, Ocasio-Cortez made it clear that she wouldn&#8217;t vote to reopen the government — despite the fact that the CR in question has already passed the House in spite of her no vote — until she saw legislation guaranteeing what she wanted.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
These losers — the leaders of the Democrat Party — are not serious people. They don&#8217;t have any clue what they&#8217;re talking about other than demanding free health care for illegals to vote to re-open the government.
Shame on them. <a href="https://t.co/IdygxnEB8r">pic.twitter.com/IdygxnEB8r</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1978633289742045298?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 16, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
One question from a young woman in the audience pertained to social media messaging – and why Republicans seemed to be more effective at getting their points across. After a brief moment in which Sanders appeared to freeze like a deer in headlights, he claimed that Republicans were more effective in their messaging because their &#8220;friends&#8221; owned the big tech companies and controlled much of legacy media.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Crazy Bernie thinks Republicans are more &#8220;effective&#8221; at messaging on social media than Democrats because tech companies and the mainstream media are in the tank for us.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 <a href="https://t.co/eHDjDdKjsm">pic.twitter.com/eHDjDdKjsm</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1978635415507644451?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 16, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Sanders went on to claim — with encouragement from Ocasio-Cortez — that President Donald Trump was ordering Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to enforce federal immigration policy because he wanted legal citizens to live in fear that they, too, could be plucked off the streets without any notice.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Crazy Bernie says ICE raids — in which some of the most dangerous criminals on earth have been taken off American streets — are “about a movement toward authoritarianism.”
Absolutely deranged. <a href="https://t.co/wUoaPsrk9v">pic.twitter.com/wUoaPsrk9v</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1978640477168578733?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 16, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Things only got worse for Sanders after that, when a member of the audience — student Rohan Naval — asked him to explain how the shutdown would ultimately reflect on Senator Chuck Schumer&#8217;s (D-NY) leadership.
&#8220;I think it reflects more on [House Speaker] Mike Johnson&#8217;s leadership,&#8221; Sanders replied, failing to mention the fact that Johnson had gotten the clean CR passed in his chamber. &#8220;And President Trump&#8217;s leadership. This is a leadership that said it&#8217;s okay to — well, how do you feel? You tell me. Do you think it&#8217;s a good idea to give a trillion dollars in tax breaks to the richest people in the country and then make massive cuts to health care for working-class people?&#8221;
&#8220;I think Chuck Schumer has voted for continuing resolutions 13 times in the last four years, and he has the opportunity to vote for one again, but he‘s refusing to come to the table,&#8221; Naval responded.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Crazy Bernie just got wrecked on national television 🤣 <a href="https://t.co/G5Emm2gY6v">pic.twitter.com/G5Emm2gY6v</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1978641695760662647?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 16, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;As I have said, there are 53 Republicans in the Senate, correct? They need 60. What does that mean? It means you have to talk to the other side. Mike Johnson is not talking. John Thune is not talking. President Trump is not talking. That is the problem,&#8221; Sanders complained — but thus far, Democrats have not proposed compromises, and have instead made a list of demands that would undo provisions of duly passed legislation (the Big Beautiful Bill in particular) that they dislike.

Bernie Sanders And Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Hold “Fighting Oligarchy” Rally In L.A.

Democrats Send Least Effective Messengers Possible To Defend Shutdown Stand-Off

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Chuck Schumer

Congress

Government Shutdown

Politics

Schumer Shutdown

House Speaker Mike Johnson unloaded on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer during a Sunday morning interview, saying that the New York Senator was being intentionally dishonest about which party was driving the ongoing government shutdown.
Johnson joined anchor Shannon Bream on &#8220;Fox News Sunday&#8221; to discuss the shutdown and whether or not the end was in sight, and he argued that Schumer was allowing the federal government to stay closed in order to protect himself from the backlash he got for moving to keep the government open and avert the last potential shutdown in March.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/SpeakerJohnson?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SpeakerJohnson</a> on the Democrat shutdown: &#8220;Chuck Schumer, when he voted for the EXACT SAME measure back in March, took a lot of heat from the left of his party, and he doesn&#8217;t want to sustain that any longer. So, he&#8217;s doing this and inflicting pain for his own selfish reasons.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/ZN8YS74p0C">pic.twitter.com/ZN8YS74p0C</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1977378948355891452?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 12, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Johnson first responded to Schumer&#8217;s repeated claims that Republicans could reopen the government any time they wanted to because they controlled the House, the White House, and the Senate.
<a class="c-link c-link--focus-visible" href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_campaign=fall40&amp;utm_content=fallsale&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_campaign=fall40&amp;utm_content=fallsale&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial" data-sk="tooltip_parent">Get 40% off new DailyWire+ annual memberships with code FALL40 at checkout!</a> 
&#8220;Chuck Schumer is incapable of telling the truth right now,&#8221; Johnson began. &#8220;I mean, he&#8217;s been in Congress for 44 years, Shannon, I mean almost half a century. He knows this is basic civics. Every eighth grade civics student can point out the fallacy in what he just said. It requires 60 votes in the Senate to get this through. We only have 53 Republicans. We&#8217;ve got to have a handful of Democrats in the Senate who apply common sense and agree to reopen the government so that we can continue all these discussions.&#8221;
Johnson went on to point out that the Continuing Resolution on the table – which would reopen the government temporarily and has already been passed by the House — would keep the current levels of spending as they are and give Congress time to negotiate any changes.
&#8220;We just need seven more weeks to finish it, and right now they&#8217;re eating up the clock. They&#8217;re doing this for political cover,&#8221; Johnson explained. &#8220;Chuck Schumer, when he voted for the EXACT SAME measure back in March, took a lot of heat from the left of his party, and he doesn&#8217;t want to sustain that any longer. So, he&#8217;s doing this and inflicting pain for his own selfish reasons.&#8221;

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA)

Mike Johnson Unloads On Schumer, Says Senate Dem Is ‘Inflicting Pain For His Own Selfish Reasons’

Mike Johnson Unloads On Schumer, Says Senate Dem Is 'Inflicting Pain For His Own Selfish Reasons'

Media

Mike Johnson

WASHINGTON—As the government shutdown enters its second week, Republicans are finding new and exciting ways to pin the blame on Democrats.
At the Senate Republican member meeting on Tuesday, lawmakers watched a <a href="https://x.com/AmberJoCooper/status/1975623924944908678">video</a>, exclusively obtained by The Daily Wire, lampooning the &#8220;Schumer Shutdown.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
EXCLUSIVE: <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDailyWire</a> has obtained a video Senate Republicans watched at today’s member meeting.
The video features mariachi music, a recurring theme lately on social media, and a mash up of Senators labeling the ongoing standoff the “Schumer shutdown.”
One segment shows… <a href="https://t.co/8ctJn2jbOS">pic.twitter.com/8ctJn2jbOS</a>
— Amber Jo Cooper (@AmberJoCooper) <a href="https://twitter.com/AmberJoCooper/status/1975623924944908678?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 7, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Set to mariachi music — now the preferred soundtrack to mocking standoffish Democrats, thanks to the White House — the video opens with a clip of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D) struggling with technical difficulties during a CNN hit.
“I can’t hear,&#8221; Schumer says toward the end of the video, as the word &#8220;Sure&#8221; flashes on screen. The video is a mashup of Republicans deploying the phrase &#8220;Schumer Shutdown,&#8221; Republicans&#8217; go-to byword for the funding fight.
“While the tone of the video was lighthearted the message was not,&#8221; a source who attended the Senate GOP meeting told The Daily Wire. &#8220;The video summarized exactly where the fault for this shutdown lies, with Chuck Schumer. While pressure mounts on Senate Democrats, Republicans are feeling emboldened in our fight to reopen the government for the American people,&#8221; the source said.
Following the meeting, Senate Majority Leader John Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson spoke to reporters, reiterating Republicans&#8217; call for Senate Democrats to pass their continuing resolution and reopen the government.
On Monday night, the Senate held another vote on the House-passed funding bill. It failed by a vote of 52-42.
Thune said if a few more Senate Democrats vote with them, they can reopen the government.
“Every day that the Democrats keep the government shut down is creating more and worse consequences for the American people,” Thune said.
<a class="c-link" href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_campaign=fall40&amp;utm_content=fallsale&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_campaign=fall40&amp;utm_content=fallsale&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial" data-sk="tooltip_parent">Get 40% off new DailyWire+ annual memberships with code FALL40 at checkout!</a>
&#8220;I think they&#8217;re under enormous pressure from their political left. I think they&#8217;re under enormous pressure from their leadership, but they&#8217;re going to have to be some brave souls who are courageous enough to come out and deliver the votes to open up the government,&#8221; Thune said. 
Johnson said Schumer &#8220;wants to play political games,&#8221; noting the House previously passed a &#8220;clean&#8221; continuing resolution.
&#8220;They have created a distraction. They&#8217;re trying to pretend this is about an end-of-the-year policy decision on healthcare — it is not,&#8221; Johnson said.
Schumer posted multiple times throughout the day on Tuesday. <a href="https://x.com/SenSchumer/status/1975601365071372654">One X post</a> said Senate Republicans &#8220;do not have the votes to pass their bill.&#8221;
&#8220;They need to come to the table and negotiate now to reopen the government and bring down healthcare costs. They’re the only ones who seem to think we can’t do both,&#8221; Schumer wrote.
He claimed Republicans are &#8220;OUTRIGHT LYING about giving undocumented immigrants health insurance through the ACA or Medicaid or Medicare.&#8221;
&#8220;NOT ONE FEDERAL DOLLAR can be spent for this. It&#8217;s already illegal. He just wants to distract from how Republicans shut the government down instead of fixing healthcare for the American people,&#8221; Schumer said.
The back and forth drags on. Another Senate vote is expected on the continuing resolution, but no schedule has been set.

Democratic Congressional Leaders Reveal Proposals To Combat Trump, DOGE “Chaos”

Watch The ‘Schumer Shutdown’ Mashup Senate Republicans Saw At Tuesday’s Member Meeting

Mariachi Music

Republicans

Menu

Schumer Shutdown

Democrats Send Least Effective Messengers Possible To Defend Shutdown Stand-Off

Mike Johnson Unloads On Schumer, Says Senate Dem Is ‘Inflicting Pain For His Own Selfish Reasons’

Watch The ‘Schumer Shutdown’ Mashup Senate Republicans Saw At Tuesday’s Member Meeting