Thune digs in on 'stupid' shutdown: Talks with Schumer are 'not going to accomplish a lot'

Republican Senate Leader John Thune said the government shutdown is "stupid" and a negotiation with Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer won't "accomplish a lot."

WASHINGTON — On the second day of the shutdown, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., called it “stupid” and said a negotiation with his Democratic counterpart, Sen. Chuck Schumer, is not “going to accomplish a lot.”

In an interview with NBC News' Tom Llamas that will air Thursday night, Thune said Democrats will have another opportunity Friday afternoon to join Republicans in voting for a clean, short-term bill to reopen the government.

“I would suspect that we’ll probably cross paths on the floor; we’re both on the floor quite often. Our offices are not far apart. So if he wants to chat, he knows where to find me,” Thune said of Schumer, D-N.Y., the minority leader. “But I think at this point, right now, the issue ... is pretty straightforward. I don’t know that, you know, negotiation is going to accomplish a lot."

“This is a seven-week funding resolution just to keep the government funded so we can continue doing the appropriations work that we started earlier this year,” he added.

Negotiations between Republican and Democratic leaders have been at a standstill ever since they left a meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday without a deal. Trump followed up the meeting by posting an insulting artificial intelligence video of Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and personal jabs have flown back and forth since.