Late-night comedians Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert and Seth Meyers criticized the eight senators, seven Democrats and one independent, for voting to end the government shutdown.<\/b>
\nThe late-night comedians expressed frustration with the Democratic Party on Monday after eight senators voted with Republicans on a plan to fund the government, potentially marking the end of the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.
«I can\u2019t f—ing believe it!» Jon Stewart, host of «The Daily Show», shouted. «And what, you ask, is \u2018it\u2019? Well, \u2018it\u2019 is the Democrats. You remember the Democrats? They shut down the government last month.»
Seven Democratic senators and one independent voted with the GOP on Monday on a deal that would end the shutdown: Sens. Angus King, I-Maine, John Fetterman, D-Pa., Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., Tim Kaine, D-Va., and the number two Democrat in the Senate, Dick Durbin, D-Ill.
«They f—ing caved on the shutdown, not even a full week removed from the best election night results we’ve had in years», Stewart said.
«Yes, the shutdown may have been long and painful for millions of Americans, but at least it achieved jack squat», Stephen Colbert said during «The Late Show» on Monday.
Colbert accused Shaheen of crumbling «like a granola bar in your backpack.»
Seth Meyers, host of «Late Night with Seth Meyers», criticized Democrats throughout his show, questioning why they thought it was time to «cave» to President Donald Trump.
«Democrats have finally backed Trump into a corner. Polls showed voters were on their side. And then just when it seemed like they’d finally turn the tables, they buckled», he said.
He called out Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who has faced removal calls after the members of his caucus voted to end the shutdown. Schumer said Monday that they were not giving up the «fight.»
«But that\u2019s what you\u2019re doing. You\u2019re giving up the fight. You can\u2019t wave a white flag in one hand that says, ‘I give up’, while in the other hand waving a smaller white flag that says, ‘until next time'», Meyers said, reacting to Schumer’s remarks.
Meyers touted the protests against the Trump administration, the president’s low poll numbers and Democrats’ election victories, saying, «So naturally, Senate Democrats looked at all that and said, ‘Now is the time to cave.'»
«Oh, look, I just got a fundraising email from the Democrats. It said, ‘Seth, this is urgent. Can you chip in five bucks? We promise to do Jack s— with it'», he added.
Kimmel also ripped Schumer, expressing frustration over the senators who voted to «cave.»
«At his age, it\u2019s incredible that Chuck Schumer is still able to bend over so far. Chuck Schumer is basically every parent who tells their kid ‘That\u2019s it, no more iPad!’ And the next thing you know, you got ‘roblox’ at the dinner table. This was such a big cave, by the Democrats, Bruce Wayne offered to buy it», Kimmel said.
Schumer and the Democratic caucus have demanded throughout the shutdown that they would only vote to reopen the government if they received an ironclad deal on expiring Obamacare subsidies.
But that deal never materialized. Instead, the eight senators from the Democratic caucus took the offer that Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has made since the beginning \u2014 a guarantee to vote on legislation that would deal with the subsidies.
The Senate officially passed the revamped continuing resolution late Monday night. The new deal would reopen the government until Jan. 30 and includes a reversal of the Trump administration\u2019s firing of furloughed federal workers, a deal to ensure that furloughed workers would get back pay and future protections for federal workers during shutdowns.<\/p>\n