As the Trump administration continues to blame Democrats for the ongoing partial government shutdown, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said something that people found particularly outrageous. During a March 25 press briefing, Leavitt, 28, accused Democrats of having “an illegal alien first agenda.”
According to her, the ongoing government shutdown is happening because Democrats “care more about illegal aliens than American citizens” and “are willing to inflict massive pain on their own constituents.”
First, she talked about the issues at airports around the country.
Q: “Are the TSA lines…going to be what ends the stalemate in Congress to get DHS funded?”
@PressSec Karoline Leavitt: “It’s the Democrats who have led to this stalemate…The cruelty is the point. They want this chaos. They want to distract…from the success of our military.” pic.twitter.com/9wQCsewj8U— CSPAN (@cspan) March 25, 2026
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown is due to disagreements over federal immigration enforcement. After Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents killed Alex Pretti and Renee Good in January, Democrats are pushing for significant reforms and accountability for immigration officers.
The Trump administration continues to act like Democrats are to blame. Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer has suggested the opposite. “We thought there had been some progress. Then Republicans sent us their offer yesterday, and it contained none of what we talked about, none of the reforms we had been discussing,” he said, per The Guardian. “So if anyone is slowing down negotiation and hurting TSA workers, it is the Republican leadership, who did not include one single reform.”
The shutdown has led to long wait times at airports as Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers continue to work without pay, or call off because they’re not getting paid. Leavitt addressed this issue during the recent press briefing, saying, “Democrats in Congress are forcing American travelers to wait in hours-long lines at airports across the country, robbing TSA officers and other federal workers of their hard-earned paychecks that they use to feed their families, and causing billions of dollars in damage to our economy.”
She said “the cruelty of this shutdown is the point” for Democrats.
May God Bless Sheridan and her family. She would still be here, if not for the Democrats insane Open Border and Sanctuary City policies. https://t.co/GyfZT0oR33
— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) March 26, 2026
Later, when taking questions from reporters, Leavitt said Democrats “want this chaos” because “they want to distract from the success of our military overseas right now, totally obliterating the Iranian regime.”
She also talked about how President Donald Trump is trying to address this issue by sending “some of our amazing ICE agents to help alleviate that stress and address the long wait times.” Then, she added, “But it’s important to take a step back and remember why is this even happening in the first place.”
So, why is it happening, according to Leavitt? Because of Democrats. She accused them of prioritizing undocumented immigrants over American citizens and called it “deranged.” She then blamed Democrats’ policies and priorities for the death of 18-year-old Loyola University Chicago freshman Sheridan Gorman, who was shot and killed this month. Federal officials have said the suspect, Jose G. Medina, is an undocumented immigrant from Venezuela.
“Another innocent American citizen had her life stolen from her because Democrats embraced reckless open border policies and reckless sanctuary city policies, which put criminals back into American communities,” Leavitt said.
She then added, “How many more Americans have to die before the Democrats end this madness?”
TRUMP started this war.
Republicans control both the House and the Senate.
YOU can end this war and the shutdown at ANY moment! You have chosen not to. https://t.co/Ysg89hQfnw
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) March 25, 2026
This particular statement went viral online, with many Trump critics reacting to a clip of it. Several people mentioned that the shutdown started because two Americans were killed by federal agents. “that’s kind of why they’re holding up the vote… because Americans died,” one critic wrote on X.
California Governor Gavin Newsom’s press office shared the clip, and also mentioned the Americans who are dying because of the Iran war. “TRUMP started this war,” the account stated. “Republicans control both the House and the Senate. YOU can end this war and the shutdown at ANY moment! You have chosen not to.”
Many critics argued that it doesn’t make sense to blame Democrats for everything, given the amount of power Republicans currently have. “You literally control the government,” one person pointed out.
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