NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Radio host Charlamagne tha God said during an interview on Monday that Democrats are losing the shutdown-messaging battle.
“I read a poll this morning that said, you know, a lot of Americans are starting to blame Democrats for the government shutdown. And it’s just simply because Republicans are better at messaging than Democrats will ever be,” Charlamagne told MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace during her podcast, “The Best People.”
The government has been shut down for over three weeks. Democratic lawmakers are demanding an extension to expiring Obamacare subsidies, as Republicans hope to pass a seven-week extension of fiscal year 2025 government spending levels, called a continuing resolution.
“I can’t believe Democrats still haven’t figured out how to message. But right now, at a time when American people are hurting, and they can point directly to the Trump administration to say, earlier in the year, it was DOGE cutting all the federal jobs. Now they are in charge of every branch of government, and it’s the government shutdown and all of y’all are losing jobs,” he said.
DEMOCRATS STRUGGLE FOR COHESIVE MESSAGING STRATEGY AMID SHUTDOWN STANDOFF
Charlamagne tha God speaks onstage during “Amplifying the Culture: The Power of the Black Effect” at the 2025 Blackweek Conference at Spring Studios on Oct. 7, 2025, in New York City. (Arturo Holmes/Getty Images)
Charlamagne said it was “insane” that Democrats weren’t able to effectively argue that Republicans were “hurting their pockets.”
He said Democrats should have voted to fund the government and let Republicans “jack up the healthcare prices,” so they could blame the Trump administration.
“Republicans have beat it in people’s head that it’s Democrats’ fault, and Democrats are taking credit for it, because they’re saying, ‘No, yeah, we are the reason the government is shut down, but we’re doing it because we didn’t want your healthcare prices to get jacked up.’ So they’re taking a stand, but it’s hurting a whole lot of other people while this stand is being took,” he said.
CNN’S VAN JONES TURNS ON DEMOCRATS DURING GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN FIGHT OVER POLITICAL STRATEGY
A look at the filming of Comedy Central’s “Tha God’s Honest Truth with Charlamagne tha God” on Sept. 16, 2021, in New York City. (Arturo Holmes/Getty Images for Comedy Centra)
He also criticized MSNBC during the conversation for accusing him of repeating “MAGA messaging” while talking about voter concerns about the border ahead of the 2024 election.
“You know, you can’t just ignore people’s criticisms of the border and chalk it up to MAGA messaging. I’ll never forget when MSNBC did that to me. And MSNBC did that to me based off me listening to people, me listening to people in New York City, listening to people in Chicago, activists in Chicago, and them telling me what their issues with the border were,” the radio host said.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speak to the media as President Trump meets with top congressional leaders at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 29, 2025. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
Wallace also asked Charlamagne if he was considering a run for office.
“No. It’s funny, people ask me that all the time, and I say no, but then I say I don’t know. And the only reason I say I don’t know is because you never know what God has planned for you, right?” he said. “”I don’t know, you know, but I don’t have any plans to do it.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The radio host also encouraged politicians from both parties to engage more directly with their constituents.
