Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) wasn’t having it with NewsNation’s Leland Vittert after the anchor pressed him on live TV over the GOP’s handling of the ongoing government shutdown. (You can watch the tense exchange below.)
Vittert — on Wednesday’s edition of NewsNation’s “On Balance” — asked the MAGA senator how much longer Americans are “going to suffer” before pointing to Americans facing reductions and delays to their SNAP benefits as well as an expected 10% reduction of air traffic at 40 U.S. airports due to the shutdown.
He went on to note that Republicans control the House, Senate and the White House before quoting President Donald Trump who — following Democrats’ sweep of key election races — described the shutdown as a “negative” for the GOP and a “big factor” in the party’s losses.
“How long can you afford this PR crisis?” Vittert asked.
Marshall swiftly responded.
“Now, Leland, you’re a better journalist than this!” he said, adding that — despite the GOP controlling the White House, the House and the Senate — it takes 60 votes in the upper chamber to fund the government.
Vittert hit back at the senator.
“You’re right, you’re right. I am a better journalist. And I guess implying that I was saying that you don’t need seven democratic votes, you do,” he began. “I’m also a good enough journalist to know how things are playing politically. And don’t ask me — ask the president of the United States!”
Vittert again quoted the president’s comments tying Republicans’ election losses to the shutdown.
“So do you also disagree with the president that the shutdown is bad for Republicans?” he asked.
Marshall emphasized that the shutdown is “not good for anybody” and declared that Republicans weren’t going to get the government open “at the expense of compromising more of a budget.”
More than 50% of voters indicated that Trump or Republicans in Congress are to blame for what is now the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, according to a recent NBC News poll.