On Monday’s Fox and Friends, host Steve Doocy made a statement that surprised viewers — and he was clearly mad.
In a “stunning turn of events,” House Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer had badly beaten President Donald Trump at the bargining table, Doocy said.
And it was clear the Fox News star wasn’t happy about it.
“What a stunning turn of events! Remember, it was just last week the president was in the Oval Office with Chuck [Schumer] and Nancy [Pelosi] and he said ‘I would be proud to shut down the government. Building the wall is worth shutting down the government.’
“And now, it’s like… ‘Uh, ya know what, we’re looking in other departments for the money,’” a visually upset Doocy said.
“If he agrees to the [temporary funding bill], which would continue funding the government at the current levels, he won’t get one-point-anything for the wall. And the sky-high spending from Congress, which he ran against when he was running for president, is going to continue. So, he loses, and the Democrats will win everything they wanted.”
“So some are wondering, is this a win for Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer?” ask co-host Ainsley Earhardt.
“Yes! She was right!” exclaimed Doocy.
“Or, is [the president] trying to be the adult and compromise so the government doesn’t get shutdown and people get their paychecks and U.S. monuments stay open?” asked Earhardt.
“Well, Mitch McConnell was the one who offered up the compromise. So, it’s still unclear what the president is going to do,” Doocy said.
You can see the clip here –
Steve Doocy: In “a stunning turn of events,” Nancy Pelosi is winning the shutdown battle with President Trump pic.twitter.com/O57Pap0jVn
— Bobby Lewis (@revrrlewis) December 19, 2018
It’s a surprising departure for Doocy, who generally supports Trump’s actions.
At the time of publication, the Senate was preparing to vote on the short-term measure to fund the government through Feb. 8.
McConnell announced the quick turn of events, saying it was a “simple” bill but will show that Republicans, who have majority control of Congress, will finish the year by governing rather that prolonging a potential crisis.
“Republicans will continue to fill our duty to govern,” McConnell said.
He also lashed out at Democrats, who are taking control of the House in January, for failing to give Trump any of the $5 billion the president wanted for the wall along the U.S. southern border with Mexico.
“This seems to be the reality of our political moment,” McConnell said. “It seems like political spite for the president may be winning out over sensible policy.”
The swift movement in Congress came after Trump moved off his demand.
Trump has not said that he would sign such a temporary measure, but White House counselor Kellyanne Conway on Wednesday said “he’ll take a look at that certainly.”
On Twitter, Trump appeared to respond to criticism Wednesday that he was backing down —
In our Country, so much money has been poured down the drain, for so many years, but when it comes to Border Security and the Military, the Democrats fight to the death. We won on the Military, which is being completely rebuilt. One way or the other, we will win on the Wall!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 19, 2018
Trump also argued that Mexico will pay “indirectly” for the wall because the terms of a new trade deal will boost U.S. revenue.
Without a resolution, more than 800,000 government workers could be furloughed or sent to work without pay beginning at midnight Friday, disrupting government operations days before Christmas.
Just last week, at a televised meeting at the White House, Trump said he would be “proud” to shut the government down over the wall.
But the White House showed its willingness to budge as it became apparent the president does not have support in Congress for funding the wall at the $5 billion level.
Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders indicated that Trump doesn’t want to shut down the government and said the administration was looking at ways to find the money elsewhere.
Should the funding package become law, the border funding fight would be punted to the new year and the next Congress, which could prove even more difficult for Trump with a Democratic-led House.
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The Associated Press contributed to this article