Now they’ve done it. After Sen. Chuck Schumer and Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi refused to show up to a meeting with Donald Trump, the White House is very, very upset. First they sent the Republican leadership out to insist that the Democratic leaders must show up to be talked at by Donald Trump.
“There is a meeting at the White House this afternoon, and if Democrats want to reach an agreement on these issues, they will be there. “
And the Trump White House pushed out a truly precious statement for the press.
“The president’s invitation to the Democrat leaders still stands and he encourages them to put aside their pettiness, stop the political grandstanding, show up and get to work.”
if only the Democrats would stop grandstanding. Like saying this at the start of the morning:
“Meeting with “Chuck and Nancy” today about keeping government open and working. Problem is they want illegal immigrants flooding into our Country unchecked, are weak on Crime and want to substantially RAISE Taxes. I don’t see a deal!”
It seems that there really is some “pettiness” and “political grandstanding” going on—from the guy who is trying to get people to show up and kiss his ring even though he’s busy insulting them and stating that he’s not interested in making a deal.
The truth is that Republicans can’t get this funding bill through without Democratic help. It’s been years since they even managed to get such a bill out of the House, thanks to the “Freedom Caucus” attacking anything just for the purpose of being against it. They certainly can’t get a bill through the Senate, because this isn’t something that can be passed with just 50 votes plus Mike Pence.
If Republicans want to keep the government open, they’re going to have to compromise. If they want a government shutdown, they’re going to have to own it. And Trump is going to have to learn that no matter how often he stamps his foot, not everyone is going to jump.
“Given that the President doesn’t see a deal between Democrats and the White House, we believe the best path forward is to continue negotiating with our Republican counterparts in Congress instead. Rather than going to the White House for a show meeting that won’t result in an agreement, we’ve asked Leader McConnell and Speaker Ryan to meet this afternoon. We don’t have any time to waste in addressing the issues that confront us, so we’re going to continue to negotiate with Republican leaders who may be interested in reaching a bipartisan agreement.
Insulting someone further after they’ve walked away from your insults is a miserable negotiating tactic. Refusing to negotiate with someone who just wants to insult you isn’t “grandstanding”—it’s being an adult.
Trump should try it some time.