Thune Joins Martha MacCallum on Fox News

Click here to watch the video.

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today joined Martha MacCallum on Fox News.

On Democrats' shutdown hypocrisy:

"I talked to [President Trump] last night, and he's willing to sit down next week with the Democrats in his office to talk about a path forward on dealing with the unaffordability and unsustainability of Obamacare, but not while they hold the government hostage. So, they vote to open up the government, the president sits down with them …

"What more do they want? That seems to me to be giving [Democrats] exactly what they're asking for … a chance to negotiate on these things."

[…]

"[Democrats are] looking at this like it's some sort of political game … where there are winners and losers of the political game … [Republicans] look at this as real impacts on real families and people in the country."

On the consequences of Democrats' shutdown:

"[M]y staff isn't getting paid, nor is anybody here who works in the Capitol, and I sent a letter to Disbursing, I'm not getting paid either, Martha, just to set the record straight …

"On Friday, federal employees missed a check. Monday, yesterday, you had air traffic controllers missing their check. You've got these SNAP recipients out there, the 40 million or so families that are going to be impacted by this by the weekend.

"This is just insanity, and the Democrats have got to come to their senses and realize that, while they may view this as leverage … look at a ledger of who's winning [and] who's losing in the political world, this is the real world we're talking about here. And in the real world, people are hurting, and … this is going to be a painful, painful time …

"It can be simply remedied today, getting five courageous Democrats with a backbone to join us and vote in the Senate today to open up the government, and the president would sign that bill into law."

On Democrats prioritizing their far-left base:

"[Democrats] are afraid of their far-left base, the people who marched here during the No Kings rally - groups like MoveOn.org and Indivisible, who are calling the shots, they are the tail wagging the dog.

"The Democrat leadership is petrified of these groups, and so they are not moving at all right now. But we have made it very clear that we, the speaker and I and others, are willing to have discussions about health care and other issues, as is the president of the United States. Open up the government and we can have that conversation."

Permalink: https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2025/10/thune-joins-martha-maccallum-on-fox-news