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On Thursday’s broadcast of CNN’s “The Arena,” Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) responded to a question on why Democrats have changed their view that policy isn’t a reason for a government shutdown by saying that “This is not a policy fight. This is a healthcare crisis.” And “that is a worthy fight for us to be in.” She also claimed that Democrats “have always ended a shutdown because we realized that it was important for us to sit with our Republican counterparts, because, ultimately, we were the ones that were in charge.” After Omar said that Republicans haven’t talked with Democrats about ending the shutdown, host Kasie Hunt asked, “But isn’t this the risk that Democrats took, because, oftentimes, Democrats have been defending the role of the government, and Republicans — in the past, Democrats have said policy is not a reason to shut down the government, a policy fight is not a reason to do it. Why is it different now?” Omar answered, “This is not a policy fight. This is a healthcare crisis.” Hunt cut in to say, “But that, fundamentally, is a fight over healthcare policy.” Omar responded, “Yeah, but we are going to see people die in this country because they’re not able to provide health care for themselves and for their families. I think that is a worthy fight for us to be in. What I am shocked by is the fact that Republicans have chosen to say, I don’t care if you lose your health care, have chosen to say, I don’t care if you’re going to lose a paycheck, I’m not going to sit down with Democrats. I don’t care if your children go hungry, if you’re disabled and you can’t feed yourself, I’m not going to sit down with Democrats. We have always ended a shutdown because we realized that it was important for us to sit with our Republican counterparts, because, ultimately, we were the ones that were in charge. Now you have the Republicans who are in charge thumbing their nose at the American people and saying, I don’t want to sit down with the Democrats, I don’t want to negotiate with them, I don’t want to find a common ground, and that is the biggest problem here.” Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
