In a bold move to keep the heat on the Democrats amid the ongoing government shutdown, the Trump administration has taken to playing a loop of memes featuring House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries in a sombrero, accompanied by mariachi music.
This is a clear reminder of the Democrats' insistence on rolling back the health care provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill as a prerequisite to funding the government.
According to the Western Journal, the video, which has been playing non-stop in the White House Press Briefing Room, was shared on social media by Kaelan Dorr, deputy assistant to President Donald Trump and White House deputy communications director.
Dorr announced, The sombreros will continue until the government reopens. The video has been criticized as racist and misleading, with the media arguing that the bill did not address the issue of illegal immigrants and others who should not have been on Medicaid rolls.
In a recent appearance on ABC This Week with George Stephanopoulos, House Speaker Mike Johnson defended the video and the bill. Stephanopoulos argued that the Democratic bill does not make illegal immigrants eligible for Medicare, Medicaid, and the Childrens Health Program.
Johnson countered, stating, It does actually because what it does is it unwinds the changes that the Republicans put into the Big Beautiful Bill, the signature legislation that we passed and signed into law on July 4."
Johnson further explained that the bill has been successful in shoring up Medicaid for those who are actually eligible to receive it. The Congressional Budget Office confirmed that the provisions of the bill have helped to reduce premiums by removing ineligible recipients from Medicaid.
Johnson argued that Medicaid is intended for specific populations of U.S. citizens, and that the resources for these groups were being drained by ineligible recipients. He concluded, "Chuck Schumers counter-proposal on the [continuing resolution] would reverse that. That is a simple fact."
The video and the ongoing government shutdown have sparked outrage, particularly among media outlets such as CNN. Despite the criticism, the Trump administration remains undeterred. As Vice President J.D. Vance pointed out, there is one way to stop this, but the Democrats are unlikely to take that route.
The current situation underscores the fact that the GOP cannot satisfy the establishment media, regardless of their actions. The media will simply shift the goalposts or misrepresent the truth, resulting in a compromise of principles for the sake of appeasing critics who will never be satisfied.
The Democrats, who criticized the GOP for similar tactics during the Obamacare debates, now seem to have forgotten their past objections. The same can be said for media figures like Stephanopoulos and Collins.
The current issues can be negotiated at a later date, rather than being used as a bargaining chip in the government shutdown.
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