Video News Clips: In Their Own Words

‘Party Of Lame’: Fox’s Lawrence Jones Says Democrats Missed Out Getting What They Wanted Out Of Big, Beautiful Bill

Lawrence Jones on "The Five" discussing BBB [Screenshot/Fox News/"The Five"]

Fox News contributor Lawrence Jones said Wednesday on “The Five” that Democrats could have gotten what they wanted in President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” if they had negotiated with him.

After budget negotiations, the Senate passed Trump’s bill Tuesday with a 51-50 vote, as Republican Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Susan Collins of Maine voted “no.” While discussing Democrats’ pushing back against the bill, Jones called out their “stunts” and said they’ve now become “the party of lame.”

“I’m looking at all these, I guess we can call them stunts now, from the Democrats. Never did I think that the Democratic Party would be the party of lame. It used to be that the Republicans were right on the ideas. They were kind of corny. The Democrats have replaced it, so they’re wrong and corny now. I just look at them — look, I have my problems with some portions of the bill,” Jones said.

“I want more spending cuts there. But I don’t live in this fantasy island. I understand what we’re dealing with. But this is a party that lacks creativity,” Jones added. “Take Murkowski. I can’t stand the way that she votes, but she got something out of it. She went in and says, ‘I want you to put a car back for me.’ Any Democrat could have went to the president and said ‘If you want my vote, put this in the bill.’ And they could have ran on it. I got this from my state. But they don’t want to work with them.”

Since May, Republican lawmakers have pushed to get Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” to the president’s desk, with its first approval on May 22 after narrowly passing the House in a 215-214-1 vote. While some congressional Republicans like Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie and Ohio Rep. Warren Davidson voted “no,” the Senate also faced resistance from GOP lawmakers.

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Leading up to the Senate vote, Republicans such as Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson voiced concerns over parts of the bill, including provisions tied to the debt ceiling, Medicaid reforms and Biden-era green energy subsidies from the Inflation Reduction Act.

Democrats have pushed back in media appearances and online, with Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal claiming Wednesday that people have been “sobbing” on her shoulder over their hatred of the bill. Others, like House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, took to Instagram, posting a photo of himself holding a bat and writing “House Democrats will keep the pressure on Trump’s One Big Ugly Bill.”

“They don’t want any wins. They just want to be the party of resistance,” Jones said.

“The Five” co-host Dana Perino joined in, adding to Jones’ argument that Democrats could have included “Dreamers,” illegal migrant students, in the bill — to which Jones responded, “Exactly.”

“So the next election, when it comes all down, they’re going to run on the same things, no wins, and they’re going to get the same result,” Jones said.

The Senate’s bill is expected to head back to the House in hopes of getting the final legislation to Trump’s desk by its unofficial July 4 deadline. However, some GOP House lawmakers have vowed to push back on the bill over its pairing of tax cuts with dollar-for-dollar spending reductions and aggressive Medicaid reforms.

(Featured Image Media Credit: Screenshot/Fox News/”The Five”)