In a tremendous illustration of how leftists believe the legacy, liberal media are supposed to work for them, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) flashed disgust on Thursday’s CBS Mornings as co-host Tony Dokoupil for stating the truth Democrats have and continue to support taxpayer-funded health care (such as emergency room visits) for “non-citizens” as a condition for ending the government shutdown.
Notice how she scoffed at Dokoupil even going as far as saying the Republican lingo has been “not strictly true,” shouting back “it is a flat-out lie” and “nothing,” “none,” and “zero” going to help illegal immigrants receive care.
To his credit, Dokoupil hung in there and noted the Democratic counter proposal included “a restoration of Medicaid benefits for certain noncitizens that had been taken away in the Big, Beautiful Bill as Republicans put it.”
“Republicans don’t think those people should be getting health care on the taxpayer dime. I’m not asking on the merits. Politically, putting that in there, exposes you to this talking point, this lie as you put it. Why put it in there? Why is it worth it,” he wondered.
Warren more or less conceded that’s what has been happening, but instead framed it as merely a reimbursement to hospitals to keep them from going “ultimately out of business.”
In the build up to this, Dokoupil wondered if there’s “any negotiations going on right now” seeing as how “[e]ventually, someone’s going to have to compromise, someone’s going to have to blink and make a deal” plus “get[ting] the blame.”
Warren droned on with doom-casting about America’s “broken health care system” and said it’s House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) who’s to blame for no negotiations and refusing to help “15 million Americans” whose health care will be “cut.”
Dokoupil countered: “[B]ut, Senator, Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota says he is ready to negotiate around the subsidies, but they’re not going to negotiate with the government in a shutdown mode. Why not reopen and go to the table to make a deal?”
Warren predictably implied this would be a trap and Republicans wouldn’t “negotiate at all” if Democrats were to vote to reopen the government.
In the moments before said blowup with Dokoupil straying from his supposed required job of defending liberals, he brought up the possible firings of federal employees if the shutdown lingers (click “expand”):
DOKOUPIL: But, senator, you’re saying they will sit down now and you have some Democrats, I’m thinking about Senator Masto of Nevada saying by — by withholding and shutting down in this moment, you’re giving more power to the Trump administration. You’re not taking power away, you’re giving it. Why do you disagree with her?
WARREN: Look, let’s understand that Donald Trump is going to do whatever he wants to do, and Russ Vought, the author of Project 2025 is in there trying to make as many painful cuts as he can. That could be stopped if the Republicans in the House and Senate would just say no more of this. Donald Trump has already illegally fired tens of thousands of federal employees and now we have a President of the United States who is saying that what he wants to do is impose as much pain as possible on some of his fellow Americans just so that he can win a political battle. He’s cutting infrastructure spending in places where the money has already been approved because it’s important to build those tunnels and build those bridges, but Donald Trump says he doesn’t care. He just wants to impose pain on Americans because he thinks that Democrats actually care —
DOKOUPIL: Yeah
WARREN: — and Democrats will be forced to back down.
DOKOUPIL: Senator —
WARREN: Look, we’re fighting for people’s health care. That’s what this is all about.
In the second hour, Dokoupil interviewed Johnson and, in the interest of fairness, started with the same question by wondering if there’s been any discussions between the two parties.
Johnson said “[t]here’s no negotiation right now because the Democrats have dug in” with the Senate refusing to pass the short-term extension passed weeks ago in the House and continue the “bipartisan” work “to move the 12 appropriation bills” through Congress.
Dokoupil followed up with questions about possible permanent layoffs of federal workers and then whether Republicans are sneakily trying to destroy ObamaCare by letting certain subsides tied to the health insurance marketplace lapse (click “expand”):
DOKOUPIL: Mr. Speaker, they clearly think they have leverage right now, which is why they’re doing this. There’s also things the Trump administration and Republicans think they can get in a shutdown. One thing is shrinking the size of government in some layoffs. I know you think government is too big. I know you think it does too much. And does too much of it poorly. You know about the layoffs that are planned. You got word of them. What departments, how many people?
(....)
DOKOUPIL: Mr. Speaker, I’m curious about the implications of there not being a deal. The subsidies that support the Affordable Care Act — also known as ObamaCare used by more 20 million people — have come to depend on them. If those subsidies go away, health care premiums will spike. Some people will choose not to go on insurance. Bernie Sanders is arguing some are going to die as a result. Are Republicans trying to topple or effectively topple ObamaCare without outright saying so?
JOHNSON: No. This is an absolute, 100 percent red herring. Everyone in Congress knows it. The Democrats know as well, even the ones making this crazy argument, that is a provision that does not expire until the end of December. December 31. We are in the beginning of October.
DOKOUPIL: Well —
JOHNSON: They’re trying to make a December policy issue — wait a minute — part of the argument for a stopgap —
DOKOUPIL: — people at home —
JOHNSON: — funding measure in Congress. That is not the issue.
DOKOUPIL: — Mr. Speaker, people at home have to make decisions about what they’re going be too doing next year. They’re looking at how much money they have and how much something might cost and they’re deciding now.
Dokoupil didn’t pushback when Johnson brought up the healthcare for illegal immigrants and instead pivoted to the sombrero memes about House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY): “He says that the video and t images are racist and bigoted. You’ve gotta work with this individual. Do you see his point of view here? Can you see how he might feel that way?”
Johnson said while Jeffries “is my friend” and someone he has “a great relationship of trust,” the New Yorker lawmaker “has to lighten up” and stop acting as though “the issue of the day is a battle over memes on social media” when it should be reopening government.
Dokoupil wrapped by wondering when Congresswoman-elect Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ) will be sworn in given she won her special election on September 23 and if a delay has “anything to do with” stopping votes on the Jeffrey Epstein files.
Johnson responded in part the House is not in session this week, so she will next week when it reconvenes.
To see the relevant CBS transcripts from October 2, click here and here.
