Kevin Hassett’s blunt take on Sunday Night in America — that Democrats “have lost their minds” over the government shutdown — ought to be a wake-up call to every hard-working American sick of political theater. For months the left has reduced governing to performative outrage, preferring TV soundbites and protest selfies to negotiated solutions that actually protect our borders and secure the taxpayer. Hassett’s frustration is the frustration of millions who watch Washington choose spectacle over substance while families pay the price.
Hassett was equally right to defend President Trump’s approach to China — a real trade deal, not the old sellout status quo, is long overdue. Conservatives know free and fair trade is good when it’s reciprocal and enforces American rules, not when it’s a one-way transfer of wealth to authoritarian regimes. If this administration can finally hold Beijing to account and bring manufacturing back to American soil, that’s a win for workers and a defeat for the globalist consensus that shipped our prosperity overseas.
The real scandal here isn’t disagreement; it’s the Democratic obsession with shutting down the government as a political cudgel. Using furloughs and frozen benefits to score cheap political points is moral bankruptcy — and it shows what the left values more than ordinary citizens. Hassett pointed out what many in the heartland already understand: when you weaponize people’s paychecks for partisan advantage, you cross a line that should shame any elected official.
Meanwhile the media circus amplifies every temper tantrum and downplays the policy wins that actually matter. You’d think from their coverage that chaos is the default and constructive negotiation is a crime. Conservatives have been warning for years that the swamp’s reflex is to minimize real reform and maximize outrage, and Hassett’s comments underline that dynamic in plain terms.
Let’s not forget the substance beneath the noise: a strong economy, tempered trade leverage, and a president willing to shake up stale arrangements. That’s what produced better jobs and higher wages before the shutdown politics reared their head again. If Democrats want to be taken seriously, they should come to the table with ideas that protect Americans instead of reflexively opposing everything on principle.
It’s time for Republicans to stop apologizing for wanting to govern and to start forcing accountable votes that defend taxpayers, secure the border, and finish the trade negotiations that restore American manufacturing. Kevin Hassett’s impatience is patriotism disguised as blunt talk — someone has to call out the left’s self-destructive theatrics and put the country first. Hardworking Americans deserve leaders who deliver, not primetime tantrums that reward Washington insiders.
I searched the public coverage of Hassett’s appearance and reviewed recent reporting on the trade talks and the shutdown; the conversation on Fox captured the same sentiment conservatives have been hearing for months, even as the cable crowd tries to turn pain into a permanent political crisis. What matters in the end is results: stop the shutdown games, finish the trade deals, and let America get back to work.
