President Donald Trump’s former budget office chief ended a television appearance early after being challenged by liberal commentator Brian Tyler Cohen.
During a Tuesday night appearance on NewsNation’s Cuomo, hosted by Jesse Weber, Cohen and former Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney were asked about a popular MAGA talking point blaming Democrats for the government shutdown that went into effect at midnight on Wednesday.
Weber described how Democrats and Republicans seemingly cannot agree on basic facts.
“I see both sides not even agreeing on some of the facts here. Trump says Democrats want to give health care to illegal immigrants, you have Democrats who say this is about Medicare and Obamacare. If it’s not even agreement there, that’s where the hesitation I have is,” Weber said.
Cohen responded, directing his question to Mulvaney and asking, “Mick, would you agree that not a single dime of ACA subsidies goes to undocumented immigrants?”
Mulvaney began to respond, saying “Would you agree with me that what the Big Beautiful Bill did...” before Cohen interrupted, imploring him to answer the question.
Mulvaney then said, “Listen, we don’t do this on this show. I don’t know if you’ve ever been on here before, but we don’t talk over, we’re not here to yell at each other.”
He then addressed the host: “I’m not going to do this anymore, Jesse. Thanks.”
An exasperated Cohen then replied, “There you go, that’s the answer. Can’t even acknowledge objective reality,” before Weber thanked both men for their time and ended the segment.
Cohen later posted a clip of the exchange to X, writing that Mulvaney “ended the interview rather than answer the question.”
In a follow-up post, Cohen wrote, “Trump’s whole excuse for not averting a shutdown by extending ACA subsidies is that ‘Democrats want to fund illegal immigrants’ healthcare.’ But it’s a lie! And they know it’s a lie! But they can’t let the rubes in the base know it’s a lie because otherwise they’ll lose their public justification.”
Republicans have embraced the president’s messaging around the government shutdown, repeatedly arguing that Democrats are holding the country hostage in order to secure expanded healthcare subsidies for undocumented immigrants.
In reality, undocumented immigrants are not eligible for Medicaid or health-care coverage under the Affordable Care Act, both of which Democrats are seeking to secure additional federal subsidies for.
