Bill Scher, Politico January 8, 2019 https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/01/07/donald-trump-government-shutdown-223798 Trump is ignoring the polls, calling bad press "fake news." Scher wrote, "On Sunday, he blithely asserted that “many of those people that won’t be receiving a paycheck … agree 100 percent with what I’m doing.” That is a lie. The TV ratings are skewering Trump, though, and he always pays attention to those scoes. "If the shutdown was successfully galvanizing his supporters, you would expect fiery exhortations from Fox News anchors to attract the eyeballs of Trump’s base. But on the first Wednesday and Thursday of the new year, all of Fox News’ prime-time shows scored viewership below their daily averages for 2018. Fox News’ tentpole show, Hannity, which averaged 3.3 million daily viewers in 2018, hasn’t reached 3 million since December 12th, a week before the shutdown began." "Meanwhile, the lefty lineup over at MSNBC performed better last week than its daily 2018 average. In particular, The Rachel Maddow Showpulled in 3.5 million viewers Thursday night, 1 million more than Hannity. Perhaps sensing he doesn’t already have the attention of the television-watching public, Trump is forcing his way on to our screens Tuesday night with his first prime-time Oval Office address." Yup, rowdy Rachel outdrew humpy Hannity by a cool million in one night. 'How can this be? Trump was goaded into the shutdown by conservative media figures like Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh. This is supposed to be a championship bout over Trump’s signature issue, the one that revs up the base like no other. Back in the 2016 primary, Trump admitted to the New York Times editorial board, “You know, if [a rally] gets a little boring, if I see people starting to sort of, maybe thinking about leaving, I can sort of tell the audience, I just say, ‘We will build the wall!’ and they go nuts.” "Trump now faces a similar problem. This time, it’s the shutdown that’s boring. And for once, “We will build the wall” isn’t making it more interesting. Here we are in Day Whateverteenth of the shutdown, and it’s much like the day before. Congressional leaders meet and get nowhere. Democrats insist Trump will never get his wall. Trump treats “steel slats” over concrete as a magnanimous gesture of compromise. All that’s missing is Punxsutawney Phil and Ned Ryerson." The one thing the American voter will never forgive Trump for being: boring. And he is boring and becoming irrelevant. "But without concessions, how could Trump end the shutdown without humiliating himself? First and foremost, Trump is shameless. He’ll assert victory at any time, regardless of the facts. For example, Trump has insisted he has started building new barriers, when all that has happened to date is replacements of existing barriers. (Fourteen miles of new barrier in Texas is scheduled to begin construction next month.)"
Let me tell you something here in Kansas it is Trump country and I have yet to find a supporter of his that did not want him to stick to his guns on this issue. Personally I think it is all a bunch of noise from both sides. BUT his supporters want him to keep the government shut down until he gets his wall.
I think Lindsey Graham is correct when he said that if Trump caves it will likely be the end of his presidency.
They want him to keep government shut down because they aren't the federal employees not getting a paycheck to support themselves & their families. What a bunch of cold-hearted sycophants.
Maybe they think that more jobs are lost due to illegal immigration then to temporary lay offs. My opinion is that they should give him the wall since it costs more then 5 billion per week for the shutdown.
True. His "supporters" (aka "The Trump BASE") comprise about 1/4 of America. Obviously, the above group is exponentially over-represented at this forum. The 250 Million Americans who oppose Trump could not care less about the wall being built. Trump's blatant pandering to his ever-shrinking base is getting more costly by the day. Donald Trump?
But without those supporters he cannot get reelected so he has to make them happy first. He has no choice in this. He cannot back down and think he will have any shot at a second term.
A majority of Americans support a wall, just not from the Pacific to the Gulf of Mexico. They want increased border security. Almost 500,000 illegals were caught last year. How many actually made it into the U.S.? Maybe 100,000? Or 1,000,000? We don't know.
Hahaha... I love it when lefties feign compassion..... Democrats are pushing a bill with 10 times as much money in foreign aid as Trump is asking for to help secure America's border. Democrats should 1st be compassionate to Americans, then their donors and foreigners.
We will learn more during his speech. If there is a serious decline in viewership from beginning to end, he has been to 'johnny one-note' about this whole issue. If he can sustain the viewers attention to the end, they are not bored.
And how will that stop the current employment of current illegals? If he spent time focusing on the prosecution of employers, he would open up a lot of new jobs for Americans.
I think his wall plan is unnecessary but not harmful to the situation. I want him to have the money so that we can move on to actual important things. 5 Billion dollars is not worth this head ache.
If it is a 10-minute comedy skit written by a Mindless DOLT like Stephen Miller, I am sure that Comic Content alone will hold the audience. If Trump has the attention span to read a promoter for longer than 10 minutes it would be major news Donald Trump?
Well anyone that is really paying attention knows that is false, there was a bill that had been passed by the House and Senate and Pres. Trump had said he would sign until he got criticism from Coulter, Limpbaugh, etc. So this Shutdown is his, OWN it.