Senator Ashley Moody (R-FL) blasted Senate Democrats heading to Napa Valley, California, for a retreat and fundraiser during the ongoing shutdown as "sociopathic" in a recent appearance on Fox Business' Evening Edit.
The retreat, led by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) Chair Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), had already been planned, but its apparent continuance despite the shutdown earned Sen. Moody's ire.
"I have been here a total of nine months, and I can tell you with absolute certainty that this town is broken," Sen. Moody began argued during her interview. "This is exactly why Americans hate Washington, D.C., and they do not trust the people that are up here."
Moody, who is running for re-election, further accused Democrats of "holding hostage the government opening back up," adding that the government shutdown results in issues like "paying our troops, paying our federal law enforcement officers, and making sure women and children have aid, making sure that our government is open and functioning."
"Instead of locking everybody in a room, we are letting them fly to California to go to some Napa Valley fundraiser when we need to be here voting on keeping our government funded, at current levels, by the way," she further commented.
As a result, the Florida Senator said Democrats should not be allowed to "gaslight the American people into thinking this is all about healthcare," when they intend to provide it to illegal aliens.
Moody vowed to donate her salary during the shutdown, "but if we keep letting the Democrats fly across the country and fundraise off the shutdown, that is sociopathic that they want to hold hostage our government, deny salaries to people who need it, and then fundraise off it for their political campaigns, it is absolutely unacceptable."
Ahead of the shutdown, she condemned Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) for his apparent bowing to political pressure to refuse to pass the continuing resolution (CR), saying that "it is clear that he has abandoned what he knows is true, that a shutdown is destructive for the country."
