All but three Senate Democrats have voted down 13 measures to reopen the federal government in a political play that seems to be falling flat with American voters, and, unbelievably, with some at CNN.
Democrats are holding the government hostage unless Republicans include Biden-era subsidies in the Affordable Care Act to the continuing resolution (CR) funding bill. At the beginning of this cycle, it seemed like Democrats had the momentum to carry their plan to bully Republicans into submission. However, some at CNN, which is typically a friendly place for Democrats to peddle their propaganda, have started pushing back against the party’s narrative that Republicans are the bad guys in the government shutdown battle.
Democratic New Mexico Rep. Melanie Stansbury appeared Tuesday on CNN, likely expecting an easy media appearance where she could blame Republicans for the shutdown and the fact that over 40 million Americans are at risk of losing government assistance like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). But, surprisingly, CNN host Jake Tapper pushed back against Stansbury’s claims.
“Should the Democratic senators from New Mexico, your home state, vote to open the government so that these SNAP funds are not at risk?” Tapper asked.
“Let me be clear. The administration is choosing to starve American children with money that they already have appropriated,” Stansbury said. “This is a choice by the White House.”
“Congresswoman, this is also a choice by Senate Democrats to not vote to open the government,” he said.
“No, it is not!” Stansbury replied as Tapper was still speaking.
“Yes, it is!” Tapper responded.
Even CNN isn’t buying Democrats’ lies about the shutdown anymore.
JAKE TAPPER: “This is … a choice by Senate Democrats to not vote to open the government.”
MELANIE STANSBURY: “No it is not.”
TAPPER: “Yes it is.” pic.twitter.com/b6BoHxA1wb
— GOP (@GOP) October 29, 2025
The two duked it out for the full interview. (Sign up for Mary Rooke’s weekly newsletter here!)
It’s hard to imagine a scenario in which CNN decided on its own to speak truth to Democrats. However, the sudden turn is likely tied to AP-NORC’s new polling showing that despite the entire media class pushing Democrats’ narrative on the shutdown Republicans are winning over voters.
CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten analyzed the AP-NORC poll on air Tuesday, highlighting the dark reality for Democrats as the government shutdown drags on. The polling shows that the Republican Party overall rose by 2 points, which is within the margin of error, as Enten pointed out, but hasn’t gone down due to the shutdown. Even more interesting is that the approval rating for Congressional Republicans is up 12 points since pre-shutdown polling.
“So what we’re seeing here is the Republican brand in Congress has actually improved somewhat compared to when we were pre-shutdown, despite the fact that Republicans control,” Enten said.
Even worse for Democrats is how Republicans are faring among the coveted Independent voters, who have increased their support for GOP congressmen by 8 points since the shutdown.
“So we’ve got a situation here where Republicans with the shutdown are actually rallying their base, but it’s also something that’s not hurting them with the folks in the middle,” Enten said, adding, “If anything … we’re seeing is the Republican brand has actually gotten better among Independents.”
#BREAKING: Republicans’ polling has improved during Democrat government shutdown
CNN: “The Republican brand in Congress has actually improved” incl. with Independents 📈
Plus alarm bells for Democrats: “The worst position Democrats have been…in the last 20 years” 🚩 pic.twitter.com/g0hWYhsChM
— Ben Petersen (@bennpetersen) October 28, 2025
Meanwhile, Enten pointed out that Democrats’ polling numbers haven’t been this bad in 20 years. According to his polling aggregate, Democrats were up 11 points at the same point in 2017 during Trump’s first term. However, Congressional Democrats are now only up 2 points. (ROOKE: Democrats’ Grip On Bargaining Power Dramatically Loosens As End Of Schumer Shutdown Looms)
The plan was to get left-wing pork shoved into the Republican-passed CR by making Americans believe that Democrats had no control over the shutdown. However, this political risk seems to be losing steam as voters are still supporting Republicans despite the PR blitz. If you are a Senate Democrat in a purple district, you are looking at these polling numbers, wondering how much longer you can survive the polling decline before voters jump ship next November.
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