Kirsten Powers: ‘Both Sides’ Not Responsible for Shutdown, Only Trump Is

EXCERPT:

POWERS: “Well, I think the one thing that should be avoided is the idea that this is sort of a both sides thing, which I do see some people saying, and, you know, I’m sure Scott’s probably going to say as well. But the thing we have to remember is that the president made a campaign promise and the campaign promise was that he would build this wall and that Mexico would pay for it. And now the government has been shut down under — I guess Republicans are saying that the — the Democrats won’t negotiate but the fact is there’s really no negotiating to be done because the president is basically saying give me the wall or the government stays closed, that’s not really a negotiation. So when you’re president and you make a campaign promise, you, if you want it to be fulfilled you need to negotiate for that. And this is a nonstarter for Democrats. It would be a little bit like if a Democratic president shut down the government because he said to Republicans I want to ban all assault weapons; either agree with me or I’ll shut down the government. Most people would recognize that’s kind of a nonstarter. That’s not really a negotiation for Republicans. And so that is what Donald Trump has done. And if the Democrats give in on this, then in the future every time he wants something, he’s going to shut down the government. So I think that they have to — you know, if you’re looking at if from their perspective, they’re going to have to hold strong and they have the polls on their side.”