Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.) is pressuring red state voters to join the local “No Kings” protest on Saturday and pressuring his GOP legislators to end the government shutdown through his outreach with social media influencers and creators in Florida and North Carolina.
The outreach, which was first shared with The Hill, includes interviews with content creators and influencers Sarah Wills in Florida, Sander Jennings in Florida and Kate Barr in North Carolina, who have a combined total of just under 2 million followers, a Booker aide said.
According to aides, Booker has used those interviews to encourage viewers to put pressure on his Republican lawmakers to end the government shutdown and negotiate with Democrats to address health care.
There remains a standoff between Democrats and Republicans over reopening the government, as Democrats want to see an extension of the Affordable Care Act’s expiring subsidies as part of any funding legislation, while Republicans want to pass a “clean” stopgap bill.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said Thursday he is willing to make a deal and vote on health care subsidies in exchange for ending the shutdown.
“We can guarantee that you will get the vote by a certain date,” Thune.told msnbc“At some point, Democrats will have to take ‘yes’ for an answer.”
But House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.)told msnbcSeparately, he said he doubted a deal would be reached, saying Republican leaders “cannot be relied upon on a wing and a prayer.”
Booker’s reach into red states is noteworthy given that he has been nominated as a 2028 White House candidate, especially after Record talk for more than 25 hours On the Senate floor earlier this year in protest of Republicans’ major policy bill.
