This is an adapted excerpt from the Oct. 10 episode of “Morning Joe.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson was confronted by an emotional C-SPAN caller on Thursday over the government shutdown. The woman, who identified herself as a Republican military spouse from Virginia, told Johnson her family lives “paycheck to paycheck” and warned that if the standoff in Washington continued, she was worried her “kids could die.”
“If we see a lapse in pay come the 15th, my children do not get to get the medication that’s needed for them to live their life,” the woman told Johnson. “As a Republican, I am disappointed in my party and I’m very disappointed in you because you do have the power to call the House back.”
“I am begging you to pass this legislation,” she continued. “I think it is awful, and the audacity of someone who makes six figures a year to do this to military families is insane.”
But instead of addressing that caller’s concerns, Johnson pointed the finger at Democrats. “Republicans are the ones delivering for you,” he said. “Chuck Schumer and the Democrats are the ones preventing you from getting the check, not Republicans, and my heart goes out to you.”
Now, for a guy who said he would rule by the Bible, that kind of response is just shocking. Johnson should be ashamed of himself for lying to that poor woman, a concerned mother who was only asking that our men and women in uniform get paid, and that their children be able to get health care, while the speaker himself is getting paid.
Johnson tried to say it’s all the Democrats’ fault, but, as was pointed out to him in real time on-air, Democrats have a plan to make sure the military is paid and to make sure that woman and her children get the help and support they need.
Politico has reported that as many as 70 House Democrats are preparing a letter to the speaker calling for a vote on legislation that would allow members of the military to get paid during the shutdown. The pressure is even growing inside Johnson’s own caucus. On Thursday, Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York broke with Republican leadership and called for a vote on a standalone military pay bill. Johnson is the one standing in the way of military families getting the pay they deserve. Stefanik wants that to change, Schumer and the Democrats want it to change, but the speaker is refusing. One thing is for sure: Members of Congress are getting paid right now. They’re getting health care. They’re getting taken care of. But our troops and their families aren’t. Johnson can’t blame the Democrats for that. And our men and women in uniform, many of whom may be Republicans themselves, can see right through what the speaker is doing. They can see a Republican House, a Republican Senate and a Republican White House all blocking the way.
Former Rep. Joe Scarborough, R-Fla., is co-host of MS NOW's "Morning Joe" alongside Mika Brzezinski — a show that Time magazine calls "revolutionary." In addition to his career in television, Joe is a two-time New York Times best-selling author. His most recent book is "The Right Path: From Ike to Reagan, How Republicans Once Mastered Politics — and Can Again."
Allison Detzel is an editor/producer for MS NOW.
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