US Vice President JD Vance took aim at Democrats on Wednesday, mocking their silence while praising President Donald Trump for what he called “historic” moves to lower prescription drug prices.
“Democrats say that they care a lot about lowering health care costs. And yet, when the president took historic action to work with the drug companies to lower prescription drug prices, the Democrats did nothing to help us,” Vance told reporters at the White House.
Instead, Vance said, Democrats forced a government shutdown. “What they have done instead is to shut down the government because we won’t give billions of dollars to health care funding for illegal aliens,” he added.
The shutdown, which began on Wednesday after Congress failed to pass a funding measure, has already closed national landmarks from the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia to Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Both parties are trading blame, but the White House has made clear who it holds responsible: what Vance called the “Chuck Schumer–AOC wing of the Democratic Party.”
“To the American people who are watching,” Vance said, “the reason your government is shut down at this very minute is because despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of congressional Republicans and even a few moderate Democrats supported opening the government, the Chuck Schumer AOC wing of the Democratic Party shut down the government because they said to us, we will open the government but only if you give billions of dollars of funding for health”
Vance admitted he couldn’t predict how long the shutdown might last, but suggested it would not be lengthy, pointing to signs some moderate Senate Democrats could side with Republicans to restore funding. Still, he warned of consequences. “Let’s be honest, if this thing drags on for another few days or, God forbid, another few weeks, we are going to have to lay people off,” he said. ‘We are going to have to lay people off’
Callers to the White House comment line on Wednesday were greeted not with updates on the shutdown, but with a partisan recording from press secretary Karoline Leavitt. The message squarely blamed Democrats, saying they had shuttered the government because they “care more about funding health care for illegal immigrants than serving you, the American people.”
The administration doubled down online, with several federal agencies posting similar statements on their websites. And in a striking move, the White House even replayed a deepfake video originally shared by President Donald Trump — showing Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries in a fake mustache and sombrero. Jeffries condemned the meme as bigoted, while Vice President JD Vance tried to add a touch of levity, promising that “the sombrero memes will stop” once the government reopens.
Meanwhile, fresh data from payroll firm ADP showed 32,000 private sector jobs were cut last month, raising fears the shutdown could deepen an already fragile job market.
Democrats, for their part, pushed back. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer accused Trump of bad faith and warned the White House was holding Americans hostage to its demands. “Donald Trump says it loud and clear: He is using the American people as pawns, threatening pain on the country as blackmail,” Schumer said.
The shutdown comes as the Trump administration has begun halting billions in funding for major projects in Democratic states — including rail and subway expansions in New York — and for green energy projects across 16 states.
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(With inputs from Associated Press)