Democratic Shutdown Exposed: The False GOP Blame Game

Now that the government shutdown is almost over, can we stop pretending that it was a Republican shutdown? For the past 40 days, we have been subjected to a gaslighting campaign from Democrats and their media allies on the pretense that the shutdown was Republicans’ doing. The campaign was largely successful with the voting public — and transparently timed for the run-up to Election Day — but it was always an obvious lie. Democrats were the ones making demands before they would agree to reopen the government; Republicans were demanding nothing and kept voting to reopen the government. Every adult who paid attention knew this.

Last night, the shutdown drama ended. It ended exactly the way you would expect if you understood it as a Democratic shutdown: Republicans made concessions (albeit modest ones), Democrats made no concessions, and, as a result, Republicans got enough Democrats to vote with them to reopen the government.

About the Author

Dan McLaughlin

Dan McLaughlin is a senior writer at National Review Online and a fellow at National Review Institute.

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Now that the government shutdown is almost over, can we stop pretending that it was a Republican shutdown? For the past 40 days, we have been subjected to a gaslighting campaign from Democrats and their media allies on the pretense that the shutdown was Republicans’ doing. The campaign was largely successful with the voting public — and transparently timed for the run-up to Election Day — but it was always an obvious lie. Democrats were the ones making demands before they would agree to reopen the government; Republicans were demanding nothing and kept voting to reopen the government. Every adult who paid attention knew this.

Last night, the shutdown drama ended. It ended exactly the way you would expect if you understood it as a Democratic shutdown: Republicans made concessions (albeit modest ones), Democrats made no concessions, and, as a result, Republicans got enough Democrats to vote with them to reopen the government.