‘Any Republican that would be so stupid…’: Trump lashes out at those who oppose him over government shutdown concerns

Donald’s Trump’s political machine depends upon absolute loyalty, and should any of his political allies turn against him, there will be hell to pay.

Trump took to Truth social to warn that any Republican “stupid” enough as to oppose his plan to raise the debt ceiling would be “primaried” – meaning that Trump and his allies would encourage other Republicans more loyal to the president-elect’s regime to challenge sitting GOP legislators in primary elections.

As far as political threats go against his allies, it’s standard Trump procedure. After all, Trump is also the man suing a regional newspaper he once supported for publishing a poll that predicted him losing in the 2024 election. It’s an autocrat’s bread and butter—reward allies for loyalty and destroy them for disloyalty. For a wannabe despot like Trump, it’s all par for the authoritarian course.

The bill in question is a bipartisan spending agreement that is set to divert a government shut down as well as dole out billions of dollars worth of disaster relief and aid and subsidies for farmers. The legislation was recently tanked in part by Elon Musk, who sent a slew of tweets sent off in the early morning hours saying the that the bill “should not pass.”

Trump and his Vice President J.D. Vance followed Musk’s lead and lambasted the bill, demanding that Congress pass a new bill without any regard to previously agreed upon Democrat stipulations. Trump and Vance also want to use the bill to raise the debt ceiling, a stumbling block that lawmakers didn’t see coming.

While Trump is gung-ho about the debt-ceiling aspect of the bill, Republican lawmakers aren’t optimistic. “Every time you change something, it’s a challenge,” said Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.) when asked if it was realistic to introduce a debt ceiling increase to the bill. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) had harsh words for any colleagues hopeful to draft an easier-to-pass version of the bill without disaster relief. ““If Congressional leaders intend to leave DC before the holidays without passing disaster recovery,” said Tillis “they should be prepared to spend Christmas in the Capitol.”

While Trump and other Republicans are stuck playing hardball against each other, Democrats have little sympathy to spare. “House Republicans have now unilaterally decided to break a bipartisan agreement that they made,” said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Jefferies went on to say that Republicans’ decision to “hurt everyday Americans” means that they will now “own any harm that is visited upon the American people” that stems from a government shutdown.

In short, it’s a total mess. Republicans and Democrats worked for months in order to get a bill that would ensure that millions of government employees are paid through the holidays as well as aid in rebuilding the collapsed Key Bridge in Baltimore and the areas devastated by Hurricane Helene. Their efforts were stymied by the world’s richest man, whose vast wealth allows him to be unconcerned with the fact that American livelihoods will be threatened by the subsequent economic chaos caused by a government shutdown. Meanwhile, the president-elect has become a hard place to accompany the rock that Elon Musk threw at the plan, and has put Republican legislators in the impossible position of having to back out of a deal they painstakingly made with Democrats or lose their jobs. Meanwhile, millions of Americans will suffer, just in time for Christmas.