Who might be blamed for the government shutdown? A poll shows voters’ complicated views
President Donald Trump got a significant amount of blame during the last partial government shutdown, which took place toward the end of his first term after he forced a shutdown over border wall funding — but with Democrats embracing the shutdown fight this time, the outcome could be different. A New York Times Poll conducted prior to the shutdown shows that most voters didn’t want Democrats to shut down the government if their demands were not met, although both parties could end up receiving some blame. About one-quarter of registered voters said they would blame Donald Trump and the Republicans in Congress if a shutdown happened, while about 2 in 10 said they would place blame on congressional Democrats. About one-third said they’d blame both sides equally.