Day 708: As he asked them to do, Americans blame Trump for shutdown

Donald Trump proudly announced to the world on December 11 that if the federal government shut down, he would be the one to blame.

Fast forward less than three weeks, the government is partially shut down and Trump is desperately trying to shift blame to the Democrats. Unfortunately for him, Americans aren’t buying Trump’s latest rhetoric.

Forty-seven percent of adults hold Trump responsible, while 33 percent blame Democrats in Congress, according to the Dec. 21–25 poll, conducted mostly after the shutdown began. Seven percent of Americans blamed congressional Republicans.

Additionally, support for Trump’s proposed border wall — a key wedge that he is trying to drive to build support for his position — is severely lacking too.

Just 35 percent of those surveyed in the opinion poll said they backed including money for the wall in a congressional spending bill. Only 25 percent said they supported Trump shutting down the government over the matter.

So while Trump is content to let nearly a million federal workers twist in the wind without a paycheck, Americans aren’t taking the bait. They’re doing exactly what Trump asked them to do originally: blaming him.

708 days in, 754 to go

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