Iran Press/ America: By a wide margin, more Americans blame President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress than congressional Democrats for the now record-breaking government shutdown, and most reject the president’s assertion that there is an illegal-immigration crisis on the southern border, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll.
Today, 70 percent of Republicans say they strongly support the wall.
Concerning the allocation of blame, 53 percent say Trump and the Republicans are mainly at fault, and 29 percent blame the Democrats in Congress. Thirteen percent say both sides bear equal responsibility for the shutdown. That is identical to the end of the 16-day shutdown in 2013, when 29 percent blamed then-President Barack Obama and 53 percent put the responsibility on congressional Republicans.
A predictable partisan divide shapes the blame game, with 85 percent of Democrats citing Trump and Republicans as the cause and 68 percent of Republicans pointing the finger at congressional Democrats. Independents fix the blame squarely on the president and his party rather than on the Democrats, by 53 percent to 23 percent. Women blame Trump and Republicans by a margin of 35 points, and men blame the president and the GOP by 13 points.
The deep partisan divide over who bears responsibility for the partial shutdown and over the wall itself is likely to have contributed to the length of the standoff. Neither the president nor Democratic congressional leaders have shown any willingness to compromise. Republicans in Congress continue to show support for Trump’s positions.
Partisan differences also shape the choices ahead. Of the 54 percent of Americans who oppose the wall, 27 percent say Democrats should continue to resist Trump’s demands for $5.7 billion for a barrier, and 23 percent say Democrats should compromise with the president.
Related news:
US Government set to shut down for the third time in a year
The US government was headed toward a partial shutdown at midnight on December 22, after Donald Trump's fellow Republicans in the Senate failed to muster the votes needed to approve $5 billion he has demanded for a border wall fiercely opposed by Democrats.
On January 3, 2019, Donald Trump and top congressional leaders failed to resolve a partial government shutdown that has stretched well into a second week.
Then two days later on January 5, the White House meeting between Democrats and Republicans yielded no deal as US president threatened to keep the government closed for a very long period of time, months or even years.
On January 6, two American senators criticized president Donald Trump's insistence on continued federal government shutdown, and intransigence with regards to building a wall along US-Mexico border.
Four days later on January 10, US President Donald Trump walked out of discussions to end a partial government shutdown in Situation Room of White House, calling the talks with congressional Democrats 'a total waste of time.'
Trump said: "Just left a meeting with Chuck and Nancy, a total waste of time. I asked what is going to happen in 30 days if I quickly open things up, are you going to approve Border Security which includes a Wall or Steel Barrier? Nancy said: NO. I said bye-bye, nothing else works!"
Top congressional Democrats blasted Trump after the meeting Wednesday afternoon, accusing him of indifference to struggling federal workers and not trying to negotiate as the government shutdown drags on, Reuters reported.
"Unfortunately, the President just got up and walked out," said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York.
He asked Speaker (Nancy) Pelosi, will you agree to my wall?' She said: no. And he just got up and said, 'Then we have nothing to discuss,' and he just walked out. Again, we saw a temper tantrum because he couldn't get his way, and he just walked out of the meeting.
After the meeting, Schumer and Pelosi denounced Trump for refusing to reopen the government, just as they had the previous evening. As of this weekend, there is still no clear path ahead to end the shutdown. 203/103
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Trump walks out of shutdown meeting with democrat after 10 minute
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Trump says government shutdown could last ‘years’
