‘This is also a choice by Senate Democrats to not vote to open the government,’ CNN’s Jake Tapper pointed out
CNN hosts have clashed with prominent Democrats this week as the party signals it’s willing to let tens of millions of Americans’ food stamp assistance expire in order to increase their political “leverage” four weeks into the government shutdown.
With some 42 million Americans set to lose access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in November, CNN hosts including Jake Tapper, Kasie Hunt, and John Berman have questioned prominent Democrats whether they really believe it’s a worthwhile tradeoff to let millions of Americans go hungry as the party falls flat in its efforts to secure an extension to expensive pandemic-era Obamacare subsidies.
Tapper pushed back at Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D., N.M.) after she said the Trump administration and congressional Republicans are the ones “choosing to starve American children,” with the host noting that Senate Democrats have blocked a House GOP resolution to reopen the government 12 times.
“This is also a choice by Senate Democrats to not vote to open the government, yes, it is,” Tapper told Stansbury.
Leading Democrats, including Sen. Chris Coons (D., Del.) and Rep. Katherine Clark (D., Mass.), said in interviews last week that the party is willing to let American families “suffer” by letting food stamp funding expire in November as “leverage” to secure an extension to Obamacare subsidies. Meanwhile, The Hill reported that centrist Democrats in the Senate would have opened the government “yesterday,” but are scared to do so because they are “terrified of getting the guillotine” from their left-wing base, despite making no progress in negotiating an extension to Obamacare subsidies.
“We’re 28 plus days into the shutdown, what has that done right now to extend these Obamacare premiums?” Berman asked Coons during an interview.
“Nothing,” Coons admitted.
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