GOP Rep Likens Shutdown To Gettysburg: ‘This Isn’t Exactly The Fight’ We Wanted

Re-enactors portray Pickett's Charge during ongoing activities commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, Sunday, June 30, 2013, at Bushey Farm in Gettysburg, Pa. Union forces turned away a Conf... Re-enactors portray Pickett's Charge during ongoing activities commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, Sunday, June 30, 2013, at Bushey Farm in Gettysburg, Pa. Union forces turned away a Confederate advance in the pivotal battle of the Civil War fought July 1-3, 1863, which was also the war’s bloodiest conflict with more than 51,000 casualties. MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

A Republican congressman drew parallels between the government shutdown and one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War, saying Thursday that the GOP has “found itself embroiled in battle on a battlefield it didn’t intend to be on.”

The unnamed representative made the comment to the Washington Examiner’s Byron York.

“I would liken this a little bit to Gettysburg, where a Confederate unit went looking for shoes and stumbled into Union cavalry, and all of a sudden found itself embroiled in battle on a battlefield it didn’t intend to be on, and everybody just kept feeding troops into it,” the congressman said. “That’s basically what’s happening now in a political sense. This isn’t exactly the fight I think Republicans wanted to have, certainly that the leadership wanted to have, but it’s the fight that’s here.”

There are growing signs of Republican disenchantment with the current budget battle. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), perhaps the most visible leader of the push to defund the health care law that led to the shutdown, was reportedly berated by GOP colleagues during a closed-door meeting last week.

Latest Livewire
Comments
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: