Trump’s Shutdown ‘Scheme’ Blasted by Rep. Al Green: ‘Dr. King Had a Dream. The President Has a Scheme.’
“In the richest country in the world, you ought to have health care simply because you’re sick,”
Donald Trump’s MAGA-era shutdown has entered its 22nd day, now the second longest in U.S. history, as Democrats and Republicans remain deadlocked over health-care funding and budget rules. The Senate has failed a dozen times to pass the House-approved bill to reopen the government.
Rep. Al Green, D-Texas 9th District, joined Roland Martin, host of #RolandMartinUnfiltered, to denounce the president’s handling of the shutdown and the Senate’s mixed stance on ending the filibuster. “Dr. King had a dream. The president has a scheme,” Green said. “He’s releasing people he calls non-essential so he can say, ‘We didn’t need them anyway.’”
Green connected the standoff to long-standing Republican efforts to weaken civil-rights protections. “If we’d ended the filibuster when we had the chance, we’d have passed the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and prevented much of what Trump is doing to steal congressional seats,” he said.
Martin pointed to Democrats like Sen. John Fetterman, who have only now begun to support eliminating the filibuster. “It’s kind of late,” he said, noting that Fetterman stayed quiet when Democrats controlled the chamber.
Green pushed back that his position hasn’t wavered. “I’m consistent, dear brother,” he said. “I’m a liberated Democrat—unbought, unbossed, unafraid.”
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The congressman accused Trump of using the shutdown to reward the wealthy and punish the working class. He cited data showing that top 0.1 percent earners would receive an average $255,000 tax cut by 2027—roughly $700 a day—while middle-income Americans would see pennies. “This tax bill was designed to put money in the pockets of people who are high-income earners,” he said.
Green also defended health-care subsidies that the administration has targeted. “In the richest country in the world, you ought to have health care simply because you’re sick,” he said. “When we push people to emergency rooms instead, we all pay more.”
He warned that Trump’s immigration policy exposes a deeper motive. “This president is doing this because, in his opinion, the United States is not white enough,” Green said. “He wants to give the country some assurance that we will not have a majority-minority nation.”
Martin closed the segment sharply: “He wants to make America white again. That’s what the strategy is, and it’s abundantly clear.”
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