On Fox Business Channel's Mornings with Maria, the discussion was about Trump's forced government shutdown and worries over it. Suddenly Fox Business Network host Dagen McDowell surprised everyone when she observed that "more and more, [Trump] is owning this shutdown."
Trump acolytes in the media have been trying to paint Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer as the Shutdown Villains, but as the entire country witnessed, Trump gladly accepted ownership of the shutdown if he didn't get his way.
Trump: "I'll take it. I am proud to shut down the government for border security, Chuck..."
Bartiromo said they've got to end the shutdown, knowing that it's hurting the stock markets.
"Republicans are hearing from their constituents and hearing from people in the government, and they're more and more worried about the knock-on effects in their districts, in this economy where people aren't getting paid," McDowell observed. "You've heard from the FBI organization, the head of the Consumer Product Safety Commission. More and more they're concerned."
She continued, "If -- however, I should point out, if something happens with the Democrats plan just to fund the government through early February, President Trump has essentially vowed to veto that, so, more and more, he is owning this shutdown. And I'll add this: If he gets in front of the American people and is not in front of both houses of Congress next week and gives a speech, again, that's an exclamation point on him claiming ownership of this shutdown that more and more Americans are feeling."
Trump finally responded to Speaker Pelosi's concerns about security for the State of the Union Address by demanding to keep things as they were, but it's not his choice to make.
Bartiromo tossed a new twist into everything by reporting that Trump is thinking about doing his SOTU rally-style in Ohio, prompting Dagan to observe, "Well, then he shines a spotlight on the fact that it's his shutdown and nobody else's.
