The Government Shutdown ‘Probably Ended’ Schumer’s Career [WATCH]

Vice President JD Vance blew the lid off the 43-day shutdown standoff Thursday night, telling Fox News’ Sean Hannity that Democrats privately admitted their far-left flank had them “held hostage” as the crisis dragged on.

President Donald Trump ended the unprecedented shutdown late Wednesday, signing a continuing resolution after Senate Democrats finally broke ranks and voted yes, only after blocking the same measure 14 times.

Hannity pressed Vance: Were Democrats talking behind closed doors?

“Of course. Privately, we were having conversations all the time. And, frankly, privately, the Democrats would recognize the position of their far left was crazy. But they all feel a little bit like they are being held hostage by their far left,” the vice president said.

Vance said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer “probably ended his career,” calling him the chief architect of keeping the government shuttered.

The backlash inside Schumer’s own party came fast — a flood of Democratic lawmakers and candidates demanded he be removed as Senate leader. Schumer still refused to back the CR Trump signed, obsessively holding out over expiring Obamacare subsidies.

“So, the far left, they are never going to be satisfied unless the Democrats are willing to burn down the entire country. Luckily, there were a few moderate Democrats who allowed reason to prevail,” Vance said.

Vance laid out the Democrats’ wish list during the shutdown.

“They wanted $1.5 trillion, a lot of that [to fund] health care benefits for illegal aliens. They wanted us to undo all of the great border policy we have been doing. They wanted us to refund NPR and PBS,” Vance said. “They were basically saying that we want the far left’s priorities to dominate in the Trump administration, and unless that happens we are going to set the entire country on fire.”

“They were talking about, ‘Give us $1.5 trillion for health care benefits for illegal aliens, and unless you do that, we are going to make it impossible for you to fly home to see your family on Thanksgiving,’” Vance said — a reference to the travel chaos the shutdown unleashed.

Hannity asked if the government would rebound quickly.

“It’s going to take a little bit of time to get everything fully up and running,” Vance admitted, adding Trump signed the CR late Wednesday instead of Thursday to reopen the government “as quickly as possible.”

Vance closed with a stark contrast: “It goes to show the entire time the president, the entire administration, we were focused on getting the government turned back on… The Democrats were focused on, ‘We want to take you hostage… so that we can give your health care benefits to illegal aliens.’ What an incredible juxtaposition of priorities.”

Watch the clip above.