Mark Teixeira says ‘unreasonable’ Democrats are holding Americans ‘hostage’ with government shutdown

The government shutdown is more than two weeks old, and an MLB star turned congressional candidate is pointing the finger at Democrats on Capitol Hill.

Mark Teixeira, who launched his campaign for Texas’ 21st Congressional District in August, said the “craziness we’ve seen on the left” has set “a terrible precedent” as the government shutdown continues.

The former Texas Ranger, Atlanta Brave, and New York Yankee said the Democrats are not doing “their job” and should be willing to negotiate.

“Elections have consequences. The losing side of an election knows that they’re not going to get everything they want every time a bill is passed, or a budget is passed. So you have to accept that maybe you’re not going to get your way,” Teixeira told Will Cain on Wednesday. 

“The Democrats are saying, ‘No, we don’t accept that. We’re just going to shut the government down, and we’re going to make Americans, we’re going to make military pay for us complaining that we’re not getting our way.”

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Cain showed a Reuters/Ipsos poll that indicated 67% of voters blame Republicans for the shutdown, and 63% also blamed Democrats and 63% blamed President Donald Trump. But Teixeira said he does not “trust polls,” adding that there is still “Trump derangement syndrome” among those blaming conservatives.

“As long as there are Democrats and there are people out there that say everything Republicans do is bad, even if it’s reasonable. This is reasonable. Hey listen, you want to negotiate on some things? Alright, give us a few weeks. We’ll negotiate. But don’t shut the government down and hold the American worker, the American military personnel hostage because you haven’t gotten your way up to this point,” Teixeira said.

“I understand that a lot doesn’t get passed when you don’t have big majorities, and we have to work across the aisle every now and then. But we’re not going to negotiate with terrorists. We’re not going to negotiate with a party that says ‘if we don’t get our way, if we don’t change the rules, then I’m going to close the government down.’ That’s not fair to the American people, it’s not fair to all the Republicans that are trying to do this the right way and (saying) ‘Just give us a few more weeks to negotiate.’ 

“I just believe Democrats are being unreasonable.”

In an X post earlier this month, Teixeira said, “Democrats are destroying our country, and President Trump needs reinforcements who will fight to take our country back.”

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