Media Tries Some Schumer Shutdown Talking Points on Mike Johnson, He's Having None of It

Perhaps more than any other Republican, including President Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson (LA-04) has been the face of the GOP amid the Schumer Shutdown, holding press conferences every morning and doing media interviews to get the word out about what's at stake the longer this draws out, and why Senate Democrats continue to hold out.

For instance, after Democrat House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (NY-08) endorsed Zohran Mamdani in the NYC mayoral race, Johnson zeroed in on it as confirmation of what he'd been saying all along: That Democrats are beholden to and fearful of the radical leftists in their base.

"The House Democrats have chosen a side. They were forced to by that far left that they're so terrified of, and they've shown the world what they really believe. There is no longer a place for centrists and moderates in their party," Johnson said Monday.

In a CNN appearance on Thursday, Johnson was once again on point, schooling anchor Dana Bash, who tried some Schumer Shutdown talking points on Johnson - who promptly rejected them:

Bash: "We are learning some new details about a series of negations...in the Senate and one of the options that they’re discussing is reopening a significant part of the government, including the Department of Agriculture, through next year. Now, that would alleviate the pain of tens of millions of Americans who are about to feel a lot of pain and hunger because the SNAP benefits are going to expire in just two days, on Saturday. Would you accept a partial government funding deal?
Johnson: Well, there are a handful of moderate, centrist Democrats left in the U.S. Senate, and they are in panic mode right now because they recognize that their votes have been the reason that all this pain and hardship is being experienced by the American people. We’re on day 30, as you said. They have voted now 14 times to impose this hardship and pain. They’re doing it for political purposes. As I’ve explained in my press conference every single morning, they’re worried about the radical left base that is rising, the Democrat party and some of the leading politicians here, including the two New Yorkers who run both chambers, Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer, are afraid they’re going to get a challenge from a Mamdani-like candidate. And so they have to show a fight. And that’s what this is about.
It is senseless. It is unprecedented. This is the first time in U.S. history that any party has had the audacity to close down the government for a simple CR, a clean, nonpartisan measure. So here’s the answer. We cannot deviate from the number one job and responsibility of the U.S. Congress, and that is to keep the government in operation for the people, and the simplest way to fix this is to reopen all of the government, not just parts of it, so they can alleviate a little bit of the pain that they themselves are causing. Let’s alleviate all the pain and get that done. They have no logical argument why they would not do that. And that’s why we’re so angry and frustrated about this.

When Bash doubled down and insinuated it was Republican leaders who were the problem in all this, Johnson reiterated the facts:

Bash: So that’s a no. You would not support what the moderates in Republicans and Democrats are talking to one another in the Senate to at least partially reopen, like the Department of Agriculture, which would make sure that tens of millions of people would be able to eat those people who rely on government funding?
Johnson: There’s a very important point that everyone needs to understand. Republicans have voted 14 times to provide SNAP benefits, military pay, veterans' health services, nutrition assistance for young women, the disabled, the elderly. We’ve done it 14 times. The Democrats have voted 14 times to block all of that. We need to do all of those things simultaneously. You have to pay the troops. You have to pay Border Patrol, TSA agents and air traffic controllers, and everybody else. All of these things need to be done, not just part of them.
The White House has been over backwards to try to mitigate, reduce the pain as much as possible. We’ve gotten troops paid for part of October. Those funds are running out. We’ve got WIC funding women, infants and children nutrition programs funded thanks to the president. But that money is running out as well. This is very real. The pain is very serious, and Democrats are playing games with this.

Watch:

CNN’s Dana Bash comes out parroting the Democrat talking points to @SpeakerJohnson, trumpeting their sudden desire to give funding to the Dept. of Agriculture to restart SNAP and WIC benefits and putting the onus on the GOP as being the unreasonable, heartless side (even though… pic.twitter.com/PDEfBmz4xH
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) October 30, 2025

Here is something both Johnson and Sen. Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) know: Polling averages show that congressional GOP favorability ratings have gone up since the shutdown started, with Republican voters and independent voters being responsible for the rise in their favorability. With that and the facts in mind, they see no need to change course.

On the other hand, the Democrat messaging throughout has been horrible:

Chuck Schumer: every day [of the shutdown] gets better for us

Katherine Clark: families are going to suffer... but it is one of the few leverage times we have

Sheldon Whitehouse: [working families are] the only lever we have

Ruben Gallego: I don't care
— Abigail Jackson (@ATJackson47) October 29, 2025

Geez. With comments like that, it's hardly any wonder why congressional Democrats are losing this battle in the court of public opinion.

Editor’s Note: The Schumer Shutdown is here. Rather than put the American people first, Chuck Schumer and the radical Democrats forced a government shutdown for healthcare for illegals. They own this.

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