A Friday episode of PBS News Hour where New York Times columnist David Brooks manages to actually say something that fully triggers MSNBC host Jonathan Capehart is a rare occurrence, but this Friday Capehart could not tolerate the idea that Democrats are the ones corroding democracy with their government shutdown.
Capehart simply wasn’t having a fun time on Friday. When asked by host Geoff Bennett why Democrats aren’t being hypocritical, given their rhetoric around previous shutdowns, Capehart basically said it was different because Democrats are good and Republicans are bad.
Bennett then turned to Brooks and asked the opposite question, “And one of those reasons Democrats say is about extending Obamacare subsidies, with premiums set to skyrocket. Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia, he shared this example on social media. A Georgian earning $65,000 a year would see premiums jump from about $300 a month to over $950 a month. And, David, shouldn't the party that controls the House, the Senate and the White House do more to end a shutdown than just dig in?”
At first, Brooks simply stated, “No.”
He then elaborated, “I hate the fact that we're here. So here's what happened. In 2020, the Democrats win an election and they have power. And so, in 2021, they passed a bill which further increased the health insurance subsidies as part of Obamacare. And when they did it, they passed it to sunset in 2025. In 2024, the Republicans win an election. And guess what? They passed legislation that go with their policy priorities and they let the subsidies sunset.”
If Democrats want the subsidies to continue, Brooks suggested that they should try winning an election, “And so what do you do if you're in a democracy? You go to the voters if you're a Democrat and you say, ‘Their policy is terrible.’ What Senator Warnock just said, ‘Their policy is terrible. Next time, why don't you vote for us?’ That's how a democracy functions. But apparently we don't live in a functioning democracy anymore.”
Brooks concluded by warning of further democratic erosion, “Now, if we don't like the policy that the majority party passes, we shut down the government. And I'm not blaming Democrats solely. But I just think this pattern is so terrible for our democracy…And what it does is it further erodes the norms that really control our democracy so we don't — we're not — we can have a boxing match in politics. Politics ain't beanbag. But we don't bring a knife. We don't bring a gun. And we don't bring AK-47, whatever it would be. And that's what our politics is descending into. And it's very bad for democracy.”
Bennett then turned back to Capehart and summarized Brooks’s answer, “Elections have consequences.”
An unhappy Capehart could only think to attack former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell:
They do have consequences, but descending into? We're there. I mean, that road is rutted. I mean, you could — if you want to go back in history, let's talk about eroding norms. Senator Mitch McConnell, when he was majority leader, stole a Supreme Court seat and said it should be up to the American people to decide the next president, and that person gets to pick the Supreme Court justice, successfully kept it from then-Judge Merrick Garland. But then, when the shoe was on the other foot and President Trump was in the White House, what did he do? Ram through Justice Amy Coney Barrett a week before the election. So we're already deep into this rutted place that we're in.
And Republicans could give you several pre-Barrett examples as well. The point is Capehart loves to warn about the end of democracy, but when he has to put the shoe on the other foot, he melts down.
Here is a transcript for the October 3 show:
PBS News Hour
10/3/2025
7:31 PM ET
GEOFF BENNETT: And one of those reasons Democrats say is about extending Obamacare subsidies, with premiums set to skyrocket. Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia, he shared this example on social media. A Georgian earning $65,000 a year would see premiums jump from about $300 a month to over $950 a month. And, David, shouldn't the party that controls the House, the Senate and the White House do more to end a shutdown than just dig in?
DAVID BROOKS: No. I hate the fact that we're here. So here's what happened.
In 2020, the Democrats win an election and they have power. And so, in 2021, they passed a bill which further increased the health insurance subsidies as part of Obamacare. And when they did it, they passed it to sunset in 2025. In 2024, the Republicans win an election. And guess what? They passed legislation that go with their policy priorities and they let the subsidies sunset.
And so what do you do if you're in a democracy? You go to the voters if you're a Democrat and you say, “Their policy is terrible.” What Senator Warnock just said, “Their policy is terrible. Next time, why don't you vote for us?” That's how a democracy functions.
But apparently we don't live in a functioning democracy anymore. Now, if we don't like the policy that the majority party passes, we shut down the government. And I'm not blaming Democrats solely. But I just think this pattern is so terrible for our democracy, is so terrible, what we just heard from the traffic controllers, and every organization.
You can imagine if your own organization suddenly lost all funding every once in a while. And what it does is it further erodes the norms that really control our democracy so we don't — we're not — we can have a boxing match in politics. Politics ain't beanbag. But we don't bring a knife. We don't bring a gun. And we don't bring AK-47, whatever it would be. And that's what our politics is descending into. And it's very bad for democracy.
BENNETT: Elections have consequences.
JONATHAN CAPEHART: They do have consequences, but descending into? We're there. I mean, that road is rutted.
I mean, you could — if you want to go back in history, let's talk about eroding norms. Senator Mitch McConnell, when he was majority leader, stole a Supreme Court seat and said it should be up to the American people to decide the next president, and that person gets to pick the Supreme Court justice, successfully kept it from then-Judge Merrick Garland.
But then, when the shoe was on the other foot and President Trump was in the White House, what did he do? Ram through Justice Amy Coney Barrett a week before the election. So we're already deep into this rutted place that we're in.
