The government shutdown that Trump once said he would own is the source of most of his frustrations these days since he can’t pawn it off on anyone else no matter how hard he tries. Amidst criticism of his long-delayed visit to the troops the day after Christmas as well as the shutdown that’s left government workers without pay at Christmastime, Trump is once again desperate to change the narrative.
If the Coast Guard’s pay has somehow been protected during the shutdown, no one, apparently, has told them. One of the biggest criticisms of Trump’s visit to the troops and his calls to them during the Christmas holidays was that he spoke to Coast Guard members and defended the shutdown without seeming to realize that they weren’t being paid. If some change has been made, it’s never been announced to the public.
Trump’s citing of the approval ratings from the military obscures the polls showing Trump’s approval ratings for the shutdown, the border wall, and his overall performance by the rest of the American voters. He does not have the support of the country on the moves he’s making, so he’s cherry-picking numbers from the one poll where he does have a very slight edge. Despite this, Trump has no mandate and no backing among American voters as a whole for any of the issues he’s so adamant on defending, and his overall approval ratings are slipping even more as a result.
Twitter reminded Trump of all of these points and more. Read some of their thoughts below:
Featured image via Flickr by Michael Vadon under a Creative Commons license
