President Donald Trump has gone out of his way to blame Democrats for the government shutdown, but most Americans aren’t convinced it’s the Democrats’ fault.
The Trump administration has used the state’s levers to communicate partisan messages during the shutdown, which ended Nov. 13. Ultimately, however, messages through government channels such as web design, out of office email responsesand public service announcements They were not enough.
A 52% majority of Americans blame Trump or Republican lawmakers for the shutdown, according to a poll this week by Data stack strategya London market research firm.
That is in line with a NBC News poll last month that found 52% blamed Trump and Republican lawmakers. and a YouGov survey published last week found that more voters rate how Democrats in Congress handled the shutdown slightly better than Trump or Republicans in Congress. These are slim majorities, but they also show the limits of Trump’s influence over public opinion when it comes to the shutdown.
“No one wins in a shutdown,” says Kenneth Cosgrove, a professor in the department of political science and legal studies at Suffolk University. fast company in an email. “The question is which party is more to blame? Traditionally it has been Congress only because of the media and marketing advantages that the executive branch has.”
But Trump himself has not been fully committed to ending the shutdown, as his attention has been divided between other efforts, including trips to the Middle East and Asia, and overseeing his White House renovation project.
Trump “wasn’t very visible” during the shutdown, Cosgrove says. “Also, how many people visit government websites regularly? Probably not that many.”
Most people aren’t browsing the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) website, where a bright red banner during the shutdown read: “The Radical Left in Congress Shut Down the Government.” and why The main airports refused to broadcast a video. Filmed with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem blaming Democrats for the shutdown, many travelers missed it even as they spent overtime at the airport due to delays and cancellations.
In any political message, there are two important questions: “How many people actually saw or heard the message, and what else did they see or hear?” says Yana Krupnikov, professor of communications and media at the University of Michigan.
“The information environment around us is very complete; yes, we have messages on websites and emails outside the office, but we also have news coverage from various sources and we have people on social networks. People also talk to each other,” says Krupnikov.
It’s not like Democrats emerged from the shutdown unscathed, either. The agreement to reopen the government came from a handful of Senate Democrats who crossed party lines. The resulting deal does not include Affordable Care Act subsidies, meaning health insurance premiums are expected to increase for millions of Americans. The deal to reopen the government is unpopular with many Democratic lawmakers, including Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Chris Murphy of Connecticut.
Still, it turns out that tearing down the east wing draws more attention than a Message from the Department of Education OOO It never could, and SNAP cuts and canceled flights resonate more deeply with the public than a White House website shutdown countdown clock blaming Democrats. In such a busy news environment, it is difficult to break through, even for Trump.
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