Schultz and Schumer – both New Yorkers, both wanted to keep government shut down

After 43 days of a painful and unnecessary government shutdown, six House Democrats finally broke ranks with their own party to help reopen the government. Reps. Jared Golden of Maine, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, Adam Gray of California, Don Davis of North Carolina, Henry Cuellar of Texas, and Tom Suozzi of New York all stepped up and voted to end the shutdown that their own leadership engineered.

Here’s what’s interesting to Alaskans: If Alaska elects downtown Anchorage Democrat Pastor Matt Schultz to Congress, he wouldn’t have been among the ones opening the government.

This week, in a moment of insipid political theater, Schultz lied about the very cause of the shutdown and tried to smear Congressman Nick Begich for voting to reopen the government.

While Democrats in Washington acknowledged they shut the government down and used federal workers, military families, and everyday Americans as “leverage” to appease the party’s far-left base, Schultz jumped on social media and parroted the talking points of the hardliners.

He claimed Alaskans missed paychecks because of “Nick Begich backing a health care scheme.” He accused Begich of being a “silent bystander” while “25,000 Alaskans are at risk of losing care.”

This isn’t leadership. It isn’t moral courage. It isn’t even honest.

If Schultz wants to campaign on integrity, he might start by telling the truth. Even Sen. John Fetterman admitted Democrats kept the government hostage. Schultz chose instead to deceive the public—and then chastise Begich for doing the opposite of what Democrats were doing behind closed doors.

The issue is Obamacare. All the CR does is follow existing law, which is the law the Democrats put in place. The CR is only to fund government while they work through appropriations. The Democratss wanted to use the shutdown to change their law. That’s the real “health care scheme,” that Schultz doesn’t want to talk about.

Meanwhile, Begich voted to open the government. He put Alaskans first. That’s the job.

We hate to even give Schultz any oxygen, but leaving this kind of dishonesty unanswered would be a disservice to readers who deserve clarity. If you’re going to run against Nick Begich, at least be honest.  That would be the honorable thing to do. Instead, Schultz chose to bear false witness. Either that, or he’s incompetent.

The six House Democrats who voted to reopen the government didn’t do it because the vote depended on them—it didn’t. They did it because their districts would never tolerate a vote to keep the government shut down for political showmanship. Alaskans wouldn’t tolerate it either.

And here’s the irony: Matt Schultz is a pastor. He knows what the 10 Commandments say about bearing false witness. He should know what truth looks like. He simply chose not to tell it. He’s following Democrat Party orders from people like his fellow New Yorkers Sen. Chuck Schumer and Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

So when we call Matt Schultz a liar, we’re not name-calling. We’re stating a fact.

Alaska deserves better than politicians who weaponize faith while abandoning honesty. We deserve representatives who put the state first—just as Nick Begich did when he voted to end the shutdown.

Matt Schultz has shown us exactly who he is. The only question is whether Alaska will buy what he’s selling.