On October 1, the U.S. government entered a partial shutdown, as Congress remains deadlocked over federal budget appropriations.

On paper, a shutdown just means Congress is bickering over federal funds, but Mark Levin rips back the curtain, exposing what’s really going on behind closed doors: Democrats are fighting to slip health care for illegal immigrants into the budget.

He plays a clip from “MSLSD’s” Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, during which they argue that House Speaker Mike Johnson is lying about the shutdown — specifically that Democrats are pushing to reinstate taxpayer-funded healthcare benefits for illegal aliens.

“They’re lying to their own followers, saying Democrats want to shut down the government because they want to give great health care benefits to illegal immigrants. It’s a total lie,” Scarborough said. “I’m wondering where in the Bible does Mike Johnson read Jesus saying, ‘You know what? Tell the truth, except well when it might serve you well politically.”’

“Why don’t you spread lies about those who are on the outskirts of society, those who are suffering right now the most? Why don’t you lie about the weakest among us, Mikey?” he spat.

What Johnson has said is “absolute fact,” Levin says.

“I don’t know why this should surprise anybody. Remember the big, beautiful bill eliminates this in health care and Medicaid for illegal aliens? Biden put it in. Trump took it out. The Democrats are trying to put it back,” he asserts, calling Scarborough’s Jesus insult an “attack on the fact that Mike Johnson is an evangelical Christian.”

As for Scarborough’s lamentation that illegal immigrants are the “the weakest among us,” Levin counters, “Our government’s damn near bankrupt in the name of the weakest, in the name of redistributing wealth.”

The shutdown, he argues, is a deliberate Democratic strategy to manufacture a crisis for political gain and to “hurt Republicans” like Johnson. Democrats are stalling a routine temporary funding bill — something that is supposed to be “non-controversial” — by pushing for health care for illegal immigrants. On top of that, they’re exaggerating the shutdown’s impact, when only a small portion of the budget is affected.

“The fact of the matter is, the vast majority of the government’s open — over 80% of it. The fact of the matter is that Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security are going to keep running. Government keeps collecting taxes. The veterans’ programs will continue. Food stamps continue. ... Other programs — redistributing wealth to the poor and the needy and so forth and so on — those are continuing,” he says.

“The Democrats decide to use [a government shutdown] because they’re fighting among themselves, because they’re trying to empower their party. They’re trying to get their ... swagger back, and this is all they have,” Levin explains.

“But it’s not going to create that much pain” because the majority of the government will continue running. “So, unless you’re so desperate to go to a national park ... or the Smithsonian or some of these other things or unless you’re a bureaucrat who’s affected by a cut or reduction, you’re not going to feel it,” he says.

As the shutdown drags into its second week with no end in sight, Levin insists Democrats are playing a dangerous game, using the budget battle to score political points while most Americans carry on unaffected.

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