Politics

Sen. Gepetto pulls the strings in shutdown press conference

Jonathan Strong Jonathan Strong, 27, is a reporter for the Daily Caller covering Congress. Previously, he was a reporter for Inside EPA where he wrote about environmental regulation in great detail, and before that a staffer for Rep. Dan Lungren (R-CA). Strong graduated from Wheaton College (IL) with a degree in political science in 2006. He is a huge fan of and season ticket holder to the Washington Capitals hockey team. Strong and his wife reside in Arlington.
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Sen. Chuck Schumer, New York Democrat, already embarrassed himself once recently by barking out talking points to his fellow lawmakers on a conference call while reporters listened in by accident.

Now the famous publicity hound is whispering talking points to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid mid-press conference!

At an event where Democrats again slammed Republicans with the ruthless messaging discipline that has marked the government shutdown debate, Schumer didn’t quite like what Reid was saying, so he suggested improvements.

“Harry, Harry, you should explain the context of the $78 billion,” Schumer told Reid, in reference to an amount of spending cuts Democrats claimed Republican House Speaker John Boehner agreed to.

“Ok, my crew back here said I should give you a little more information on the $78 [billion],” Reid quickly began.

Schumer wasn’t through yet. He looked annoyed when he tried to get Reid to tell the crowd of reporters that “it was Boehner’s suggestion.”

Republicans, who have denied numerous accounts given by Democrats of the status of the negotiations between, quickly pounced.

“Sen. Chuck Schumer felt compelled to intervene during Sen. Harry Reid’s press conference to deliver revised talking points. Sometimes you can’t make this stuff up …” said an aide to GOP Whip Kevin McCarthy.

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