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How is this going to end? Are there any new signs this week that one of the political parties might blink? Joining us now is Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman. He's one of three Senate Democrats who has been voting with Republicans to continue to fund the government. Senator, thanks for joining us.
So, as you know, 42 million Americans, including 2 million Pennsylvanians, will not receive food stamp or Snap benefits this month because funding officially lapsed yesterday. The White House says this is the fault of Democrats for shutting down the government. Democrats note that the Trump administration is not dipping into the contingency funds for Snap. And they think that Trump is doing that too, to pressure Democrats. How do you see it? Who do you blame for this?
Well, I mean, for me, fundamentally, I'm deeply, deeply distressing to know that 42 million Americans are going to lose their Snap benefits. And now that's one of the big reasons why I refuse to shutting our government down. And again, I feel like the Democrats really need to own the shutdown. I mean, we're shutting it down. I know why they claim, because they want to address the tax credits and I fully support that. I voted for all of their cars or cars every single time. And I refuse to put 42 million Americans in the kinds of food insecurity. Now, this is all solved by just reopen our government and the people are now paid.
Now, if we are, we are the party that are fighting for working people. Now, as far as I'm aware, every single union that's involved in this now is now demanding to us to reopen that. Those are that's the side that I'm in for this. And now the four airlines are now saying, we really have to stop this right now. And why do we really want to make flying less safe by forcing this type of situation and making things that much stressed? So it's not something I support of and I don't want to be involved. And now we can find a way forward. We need to find a way forward. And we really I do believe we can achieve these kinds of tax credits. And this is something I support, but it's the wrong tactic. It was wrong when the Republicans did it. It's wrong now that we seem to be driving it.
Senators say that bipartisan talks to to end this logjam seem to be gaining steam, though, and an actual agreement is out of reach as of now. Do you know where these bipartisan talks to end the shutdown are? We're on day 33 of the shutdown. Obviously. I sure, I sure hope so. I mean, this is an absolute fail. I mean, it's actually it's embarrassing. Honestly, you know, if we can't even kind of, you know, get keep the lights on like this. And now reminding everybody federal workers have had to borrow more than a third of $1 billion just to pay their own bills. I mean, those are the kinds of workers that make this. And they're really suffering now, too. And now people, though, can't count on their Snap benefits and now also WIC and Head Start. These are the kinds of people why I'm a Democrat fighting for people that just like that now I'm not. It seems like we're moving against our core values to keep our government shut down at this point. As now, we're approaching now, 33 days now. Yeah.
So let's talk about the the issue that the Democrats say they're they're fighting for in the shut down Pennsylvania's Obamacare marketplace, says it want more than 150,000 Pennsylvanians are going to lose their coverage, if these enhanced premiums expire at the end of the year in Allegheny County, where you live, average monthly health care costs are projected to rise 75%. And rural Juniata County, those prices are going to jump a staggering 435%. Have any Republicans offered you any assurances that they will work with Democrats to actually do something to prevent this from happening? If Democrats reopen the government?
Yeah. Well, I absolutely do believe, because a lot of those counties that you just referenced now, they're all very, very red. And and I do believe many Democrats out now realize and now Republicans realize that we have to address this and extend these tax credits. And I absolutely hope that we do. This is what I'm saying. Like, I fully, fully support these things, but this is the wrong tactic. And right now, by doing this, our government shut down and we're getting neither of those things. And they guarantee you neither you're going to get your Snap benefits and you're not going to get this kind of tax credits that we all need to reopen this thing, and we can find a way forward. That's the way democracy operates for right now.
There are big elections on Tuesday, obviously coast to coast, in New Jersey and Virginia and California. There's a referendum on redistricting. In New York City, Polls show that the Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani is in the lead, for the mayor's race. You've previously dismissed him as, quote, not even a Democrat. And it is true. He's a democratic socialist. Do you think it would be a mistake for New Yorkers to elect him as mayor? Would you vote for Cuomo if you were a New Yorker or Sliwa?
No. That's going to be New York's voice. Socialism is not the future of my party. And if that's going to be their future, that's that's really up to New York City to decide those things. You know, we all know how socialism works out. Ask anybody that's live under those kinds of systems all across the globe. But for for me, as a Democrat, as a committed Democrat, I might disagree. In some areas, much like shutting down our government or other areas now. But for for me, as a committed Democrat, I am going to push back and and announce people that this is wrong. And now we are hurting the very people that we fight for, and now we're getting nothing for them. If we continue to keep our government shut down, Pennsylvania Democratic Senator John Fetterman, thank you so much for joining us, sir. Appreciate it.
Former President Obama is on the trail stumping for Democrats in New Jersey and Virginia. But where is President Trump? My panel joins me now. Congressman Carter, where is President Trump? I mean, his his nominees, his candidates in Virginia and in new Jersey are very strong MAGA supporters. Absolutely they are. And President Trump is right there with them. And I can assure you-- But not physically.
Well, and look, where is President Trump? He's in Asia. He's he's negotiating trade deals. He's negotiating world peace. To ask, where President Trump is is is really just-- Well, he's at Mar-A-Lago technically right now. Well, well, where has he been and where will he be? And certainly he is supporting these candidates and we've got great candidates. I think Tuesday night's going to be a great victory for Republicans.
Ashley, what do you think? What is Tuesday night going to be? And if Democrats win, the the prop 50 out in California to allow Democrats to grab more House seats through redistricting and the governor's race in Virginia and New Jersey, and also, as expected, the mayor's race in New York City. What does that say?
Yeah, just one thing. I also don't think President Trump has actually endorsed the governor, the governor, the gubernatorial candidate in Virginia. So that's also where he's not officially he said nice things about. Yeah, but I mean, yes. Correct. You should endorse if you support the person. Right. I think if Democrats win in all four of those areas, that it's a good sign that they are looking at this as a diversity of approach. I think Spanberger, Sherrill, Mamdani, and Prop 50 are all very different and kind of showcase the diversity of the Democratic coalition and how you have to run different races in different places. So I think it will be a good sign.
What do you say? Why isn't Trump out there on the stump, in plate, like there are red parts of new Jersey and red parts of Virginia where he could do a lot to bring out voter turnout, but he's not.
Well, he's done the town halls, which I think is when he's in office, makes sense. But I think we should actually talk about why the only real power player the Democrats have to put out to help get over the finish line is Barack Obama, who hasn't been in office for 15 years. I mean, that really underscores, I think, the divide. You see, with the Democrat Party now, you have so many Democrats who I think quietly say they're afraid of a Mamdani win in New York and who don't know if Spanberger and Mikie in New Jersey have that base excitement. So I think we're also seeing kind of like a family feud with the Democrat Party when Barack Obama is who you're rolling out, someone who hasn't been in office for over 15 years. We got to look more towards the future. They're looking towards the past.
So we should note, mayor de Blasio, you, have endorsed, Zohran Mamdani. You heard me ask Hakeem Jeffries, the leader of the House Democrats, a New Yorker who has endorsed Mamdani. Is Mamdani the future of the Democratic Party? And he said no.
Well, I disagree with him. First of all, I want to say it's fascinating to watch Donald Trump become Joe Biden, where you can't have him out on the campaign trail without causing harm. I'm being blunt about this. You can't send Donald Trump to Virginia or New Jersey. Or he’ll backfire on the Republicans. On the question. Mamdani look, this guy is taking the Democratic Party to school. He's showing us how to talk about kitchen table issues that people care about prices, rent, food, how you get to work the basics. And that's why he's winning. This is the most fascinating example, Jake, of a guy who's being called all sorts of extreme names. But in the end, he's a classic New Deal Democrat. He's talking about how people actually make ends meet. And every day New Yorkers are responding. The Democratic Party should take a lesson from Zohran.
Where Mamdani iis taking us is to socialism. And it's because of the groundwork that was done by mayor de Blasio when he was in office, the policies that he enacted that caused the economic demise, the business community. Now they're looking for help and they didn't. And unfortunately, looking at it and finding an anti-Semitic Islamist socialist, and that is not what they need. They don't need more taxes. They need less taxes. And I can assure you, socialism is nothing more than just mutually shared poverty. And that's what New Yorkers are going to get when they if they elect Mamdani.
Hey, Jake, just really quick on that. With all due respect, Congressman, we did, for example, pre-K for all universal early child education. New Yorkers love a business community, loves it. It helps keep high quality workers in New York City because they can afford the price to live. So my friend, I'm sorry what we did was good for the economy. I just want to say, okay, Mamdani is kind of running Donald Trump's playbook. What you all are saying about Mamdani right now, maybe some of the critiques are fair, are the same things Democrats were saying about Donald Trump calling him names. But guess what? The people voted for him. The people like him, he probably is going to win. He won the Democratic primary. He's probably going to win. On Tuesday, the question is, what happens to the party after on your case, Donald Trump reformed the Republican Party, and now it is not the Republican Party of your grandfather or even when you started in politics. It is this new MAGA party. The question is, will Democrats follow the same playbook and follow into the Mamdani?