It’s hard to keep track of how many times CBS’s Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan has managed to embarrass herself with her liberal spin — only to get absolutely wrecked by members of the Trump team.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in particular, has handed her more than a few reality checks, calmly dismantling her talking points while she tries to play “gotcha.” And let’s be honest — Brennan’s track record of biased, loaded questions has become something of a recurring feature, not serious journalism.
On Sunday, Face the Nation featured Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) — and let’s face it, when you’re listing the worst of the worst in Congress, Murphy’s name deserves a prominent spot. He’s one of those Democrats who will say absolutely anything to prop up the party line, no matter how hypocritical it makes him look.
But this time, even Brennan caught him flat-footed. Brennan pressed Murphy on his past criticism of government shutdown tactics — the very same ones Democrats are using now. She even rolled the tape, playing his own 2018 comments back to him when he blasted Republicans for considering a shutdown “over healthcare.”
It was a rare moment when a friendly interviewer actually held a Democrat accountable — and Murphy had no good answer:
? WOW! Democrats failed so miserably on the government shutdown even CBS is BRUTALLY calling them out now
BRENNAN: You've been critical of shutting down the government! 2018 and 2013. Here's what you said in 2018.
SEN. MURPHY (D): "We shouldn't be having the discussion amidst… pic.twitter.com/qgvoYghcPU
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) October 12, 2025
The future of the American public healthcare system was a legitimate public policy issue, as is the security of our borders. But we shouldn’t be having the discussion amidst a government shutdown, and trying to use our nation’s security and all of these federal workers and the work that they do as hostages!
“Aren’t you doing today exactly what you were criticizing then?” Brennan asked. Naturally, Murphy said “no, this time it’s different…yada, yada, yada.” Except it isn’t.
Murphy didn’t have much of a defense, falling back on vague claims that rising insurance premiums were an “emergency” and that democracy itself was somehow at risk and … you know the drill.
Brennan then pressed him further, challenging the Democrats’ stance by referencing Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s recent comment that “every day gets better for us” as the shutdown drags on — a remark critics have called tone-deaf given the millions of Americans affected by the stalemate:
But the Minority Leader gave an interview to Punchbowl this week. I mean, there is just also the bare bones politics of this. And in that interview, he said, every day this goes on, every day gets better for us. The Speaker of the House said that was this callous statement.
Murphy said Republicans were trying to “spin.” How, exactly? By quoting Schumer’s own words?
Democrats are effectively holding federal workers—and the entire government—hostage to force through policies they couldn’t pass through normal legislative means. These are issues they’ve already lost on, but instead of accepting that, they’re using the shutdown as political leverage.
If they genuinely wanted to have a policy debate, they could do so without grinding the government to a halt. But they know their demands—like expanding healthcare benefits to illegal immigrants—would never pass on merit. So now they’re playing political games, using the shutdown to appease their far-left base and make Schumer look “tough” in the process.
When even Margaret Brennan — hardly a conservative firebrand — starts calling out Democrats over their shutdown spin and flimsy “justifications,” it’s clear their narrative is collapsing.
