Trump Is Demolishing Democrats
Kevin McCullough
In the escalating drama of the 2025 government shutdown, one thing is becoming increasingly clear: President Trump is refusing to allow Democrats to wedge the country into humiliation, inaction, or moral collapse. Recent events make clear that Democrats didn’t merely stumble into this shutdown — they *planned* it. As Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer recently admitted, “we prepared for this,” using health care subsidies and ideological bargaining chips as a cudgel. Meanwhile, Trump has struck back, refusing to let his political opponents have the sole power to define the stakes.
That refusal crystallized when the President directed Secretary Pete Hegseth to use “all available funds” to ensure the troops get paid on October 15th — regardless of whether Congress passes a full funding bill. This move does more than just protect the paychecks of our brave men and women in uniform: it robs the Democrats of the ability to stand on a battlefield of their own choosing. No longer can they openly defend withholding pay from the military.
Public opinion throughout this shutdown has leaned toward assigning responsibility — and it’s not falling cleanly on Republicans, but the shifting center is revealing the vulnerability of the Democratic position. A Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 67 percent of Americans assign “a fair amount” of blame to Republicans, while 63 percent say the same about Democrats —and another 63 percent say Trump shares the blame. A Washington Post poll of 1,010 Americans taken around October 1 showed 47 percent blaming Trump and Republicans, and 30 percent blaming Democrats for the shutdown. A CBS News/YouGov survey conducted October 1–3 found that Americans broadly don’t see the shutdown as worth it —many believe both sides are mishandling it. And a New York Times/Siena poll showed 65 percent of registered voters were against a shutdown entirely, even if Democrats didn’t get their demands.
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https://townhall.com/columnists/kevinmccullough/2025/10/12/trump-is-demolishing-democrats-n2664835
