Trump Claims That “Most” Workers Affected By Shutdown Are Democrats, Has No Proof, Misses Point Entirely

If you committed the sin of waking up and going about your day without checking the president’s early morning tweets, you missed this:

Have the Democrats finally realized that we desperately need Border Security and a Wall on the Southern Border. Need to stop Drugs, Human Trafficking,Gang Members & Criminals from coming into our Country. Do the Dems realize that most of the people not getting paid are Democrats?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 27, 2018

That claim—that the shutdown has furloughed more Democrats than Republicans—deserves a couple responses.

1. I bet there’s no proof of this. (Does some research…) Yup, there’s no proof. If anything, the numbers are ambiguous, but it’s silly to get into a protracted debate, since President Tweets was just firing off talking points without regard for the truth, as usual.

2. Who cares? Isn’t the president supposed to represent the entire country? Am I understanding that role correctly? Is it supposed to be better for Trump if only the bad Democrat workers are getting hurt, or is it supposed to somehow implicate Democratic leadership since they’re allegedly hurting their own constituents by…well, by representing them and not giving in to Trump’s border wall?

A few members of Congress made this same point: