On Monday’s broadcast of “CNN News Central,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) said that “the shutdown, actually, is something that the Republicans have been really responsible for, because one of our key things in the shutdown is, number one, vote to reopen the government, but make sure Donald Trump does not get a blank check for his lawless activities,” and “people are understanding that Democrats are fighting to try to reduce their costs.”
Van Hollen said, “Well, the shutdown, actually, is something that the Republicans have been really responsible for, because one of our key things in the shutdown is, number one, vote to reopen the government, but make sure Donald Trump does not get a blank check for his lawless activities, and deal with an issue Donald Trump claimed to care about, which was these huge increasing prices and costs, in this case, the big increase in health insurance premiums and other costs that is really unloading as we speak, because, over the weekend, people began to go into the exchanges, people who get their insurance through the Affordable Care Act, and they’re seeing these skyrocketing costs. So, people are understanding that Democrats are fighting to try to reduce their costs. And that is a major theme, frankly, John, in all these races around the country right now.”
Co-host John Berman then asked, “In a literal sense, it is Democrats who are voting not to reopen the government, right? The CR keeps coming up for a vote and it’s Democrats in the Senate who keep that from passing. Sen. John Fetterman, your Democratic colleague from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, he actually says that Democrats need to own the shutdown. What do you think about that?”
Van Hollen answered, “Well, John, I voted seven times to reopen the government, but without giving Donald Trump that blank check, and also dealing with an issue that President Trump claimed he cared about, which is cost, these skyrocketing healthcare costs at the moment.”
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