No one is falling for this.
The Republican public relations offensive on the Trump shutdown is failing spectacularly, and House Speaker Paul Ryan didn't help matters when he tried to invent a narrative that people are blaming the shutdown on the Democrats.
During an interview on CBS News' "Face the Nation" Sunday morning, host John Dickerson asked Ryan why Trump hasn't fulfilled his promise to "fix" what is "broken" about Washington, D.C.
"Donald Trump didn't shut down the government," Ryan stated. "Why do they call this the 'Schumer shutdown?' Because Senate Democrats shut down the government."
Ryan's assertion that "they call this the Schumer shutdown" earned a chuckle from Dickerson, who interrupted Ryan to point out that only Republicans call it that.
"The 'they' is Republicans calling it the Schumer [shutdown]," Dickerson said.
After a few seconds of Ryan's talking points, Dickerson told Ryan, "I'm not trying to assign blame, I'm just trying to figure out what's going on."
Indeed, most Americans are not fooled by Republican attempts to shift blame, and no amount of repetition will change the Trump shutdown into a "Schumer shutdown," or anything else.
Even Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has no idea what Trump has in mind for an end to the stalemate.
All Republicans have now are lies and reckless attacks. And they aren't working.
