The ‘TACO Trump’ memes are back as the president has yet to make good on his Grim Reaper threat to lay-off thousands of bureaucrats in the government shutdown.
Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and press secretary Karoline Leavitt all dangled the bloodbath threat in an attempt to heighten the stakes for Democrats.
But the opposing party has called his bluff and are dug in for the long haul as the government shutdown enters its eighth day.
The ‘Trump Always Chickens Out’ meme first surfaced during the president’s tariff threats earlier this year. Wall Street traders gleefully profited as he failed to follow through on imposing the levies and the so-called TACO trade was born.
Trump even lashed out when asked about it, seething that it was a ‘nasty question.’
Now that same fervor is gripping Capitol Hill as Democrats sense that Trump has overplayed his hand amid concerns that widespread job cuts will alienate moderates.
‘From the very beginning, when I saw the original memo that Vought put out threatening the mass firings or mass layoffs, it was clear to me that it was absolute bluster and BS,’ Democratic Rep. James Walkinshaw told The Washington Post.
Walkinshaw’s Northern Virginia district includes thousands of federal workers.
‘And by the way, the federal employees that I represent saw it as such as well,’ Walkinshaw added.
The ‘TACO Trump’ memes are back as the president has yet to make good on his grim reaper threat to lay off thousands of bureaucrats in the government shutdown. The ‘Trump Always Chickens Out’ meme found popularity during his tariff threats earlier this year, when Wall Street traders profited from the so-called TACO trade
Trump, Vice President JD Vance and press secretary Karoline Leavitt (at a press conference on Monday) all dangled the bloodbath threat in an attempt to heighten the stakes for Congressional Democrats
An unnamed State Department official acknowledged that in an interview with the Post.
‘This is stupid, even for them,’ he said. ‘The bar is in the basement, and they have managed to tunnel under it somehow.’
Last Wednesday, hours after the federal government shut down, Russell Vought, the director of the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, warned House Republicans that the layoffs would begin in a day or two.
A day later, Trump posted an AI video portraying Vought as the Grim Reaper, ready to cut those jobs.
But a week has gone by, with CNN reporting Tuesday that there’s been a change in strategy as an increasing number of Trump administration officials and Republican lawmakers realize the optics of mass firings could be politically perilous.
One official told CNN that Republicans would be better served by laying off people if the shutdown is prolonged.
It’s ‘the idea that if we give it more time, it’ll be because the Democrats truly forced our hand and left us no choice,’ an official said, confirming fears that a stealth purge might still be on the cards.
‘And we do not want to appear gleeful about people losing their jobs, of course,’ the official added.
A sign showing that the welcome center at Yosemite National Park is closed due to the ongoing federal government shutdown
A House Republican told CNN that while ‘it’s rhetoric that excited the base,’ the GOP is ‘in a messaging battle to win the middle.’
‘”Slash and burn” talk turns them off, and is reducing our leverage,’ the House Republican said. ‘We have the high ground now, but could lose it with mass firings.’
Democrats have resisted passing a clean funding bill over expiring Obamacare subsidies that could see some Americans’ healthcare premiums double.
Some Republicans have expressed openness to passing an Obamacare fix, but most have demanded that Senate Democrats vote to open the government first.
