President Donald Trump compared Democrats to Japanese kamikaze pilots who conducted suicide missions during World War II, amid the ongoing government shutdown.
Trump’s remarks come on the heels of his Asia trip, where he visited Japan, as the government shutdown has lasted for 36 days – marking the longest one in U.S. history.
‘I think they’re kamikaze pilots,’ Trump told Republican senators at a breakfast at the White House on Wednesday. ‘I just got back from Japan and talked about the kamikaze pilots. I think these guys are kamikaze. They’ll take down the country if they have to.’
Additionally, Trump said he didn’t think Democrats were taking enough of the blame for their role in the shutdown.
‘It is Democrat-created, but I don’t think they’re getting really the blame that they should,’ Trump said, adding that the government must open soon.
The government ran out of funding that prompted the partial shutdown on Oct. 1, due to gridlock between Senate Republicans and Democrats over a short-term funding bill to fund the government through Nov. 21.
The stalemate between Republicans and Democrats stems from healthcare provisions in a potential funding measure. Trump and Republicans claim Democrats want to provide illegal immigrants healthcare, and have cited a provision that would repeal part of Trump’s tax and domestic policy bill known as the ‘big, beautiful bill’ that reduced Medicaid eligibility for non-U.S. citizens.
But Democrats say this isn’t the case and have said they want to permanently extend certain Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at the end of 2025.
Trump also stated that the shutdown was the reason that Republicans lost several key races – including the Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial elections – on Tuesday.
‘Exactly one year ago, we had that big, beautiful victory,’ Trump said. ‘But I thought we’d have a discussion after the press leaves about what last night represented and what we should do about it. And also about the shutdown and how that relates to last night.’
‘I think if you read the pollsters, the shutdown was a big factor. Negative for the Republicans, and that was a big factor,’ Trump said.
Meanwhile, Senate Democrats refused to back Republican’s stopgap funding bill on Tuesday to reopen the government. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said that his party remains firm that it will not support a measure that doesn’t include extensions for the Affordable Care Act subsidies.
‘The only plan Republicans have for healthcare seems to be to eliminate it, and then to tell working people to go figure it out on their own,’ Schumer said Tuesday. ‘That’s not a healthcare plan. That’s cruel.’