Democrats are denying funds and needed services to Americans, notably veterans and active-duty military members, because they hate President Trump.

That’s the considered opinion of Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, who lashed out at the “Schumer Shutdown” Wednesday in an exclusive interview with The Heartlander.

Democrats and legacy media have historically been able to blame Republicans for government shutdowns.

Not this time, Hawley argues.

“Democrats are the ones who shut down the government, and it’s shut down because they hate Donald Trump. I mean, that’s all I can figure,” Hawley says.

“I listen to them ranting and raving – I can’t discern any common thread in it. I can’t discern any rational principle, other than that they hate Trump and they think this will be good for them politically. 

“Think about that for a minute. They’re saying to members of the military, ‘No, we’re not going to pay you. You won’t be able to get groceries for your kids. You won’t be able to take your kids to the doctor. Too bad. We hate Trump and we might benefit from it, so we’re not going to pay you.’ 

“They’re saying to veterans, ‘You won’t be able to get health care? No, we don’t care. We think we might get some political points out of this. So, screw you.’ 

“That is their message to millions of Americans. It is unbelievable. It’s incredibly callous. It’s incredibly wrong. And I think people are not going to put up with it. I think the American people are going to say, ‘This is ridiculous. You get back to work.’ And that is the message they need to hear.”

Hawley also went ballistic in a Senate hearing this week over Joe Biden’s shockingly authoritarian treatment of conservatives during his four years in office.

“Who got the FBI knocking at their doors? Parents at school-board meetings,” he posted on X. “Who was woken up by SWAT teams at the crack of dawn? Pro-lifers praying outside abortion clinics. Who was targeted on flights? Trump supporters.”

All true and more – including the fact that Biden censored conservatives and political dissidents on social media.

Yet, many Democrats and liberals don’t seem to care what their conservative friends and neighbors were subjected to. Why is that?

“This is a great question,” Hawley tells The Heartlander. “I just am tired of hearing from these Democrats who suddenly have discovered the idea that maybe you shouldn’t prosecute people for their political beliefs – which, by the way, the president is not doing, but Joe Biden did for the last four years.  

“Where were they? Where were these congressional Democrats when the FBI showed up at the doors of parents at school board meetings who questioned about mask policy? Where were they when the FBI came and showed up at the doors of pro-lifers? Where were they when the FBI infiltrated Catholic parishes with spies? 

“I mean, you can’t make this stuff up. And this is what they’ve been doing for the last four years. I could keep going.  

“We heard testimony yesterday about the Quiet Skies program, which is all about U.S. Air Marshals tailing Americans who are on these hidden watch lists to listen to their conversations – in some cases follow them into the bathroom. I mean, seriously, this is nuts! And this is what Joe Biden did to this country. 

“We need to expose this. And I continue to say, people who engaged in this kind of behavior, which violated constitutional rights, need to be fired. If they can be, they should be prosecuted. And we’ve got to make sure this never happens again.”

Still, the left doesn’t seem to care what constitutional atrocities went on under Biden.

“I guess it’s just a selective memory loss,” Hawley opines. “But the facts are the facts. And the truth is, we have just lived through in the last four years, I think, one of the most dangerous periods in American history when it comes to civil liberties and basic constitutional rights – because Joe Biden basically tried to disenfranchise half of the country and activated a very powerful government. 

“Let’s face it: the United States government’s never been more powerful or bigger than it is now. And he activated big government against normal people – parents, teachers, pro-lifers, Christians. It was not just insane, it was wrong. It was un-American. And we have got to put a stop to it. And people who did it, people who engaged in it, they need to be held accountable.”

Meanwhile, Hawley argues, Biden’s deputy director for gun violence prevention, Gregory Jackson Jr., proposed defunding police and creating “safe spaces” for select people.

“Here were his recommendations,” Hawley says of Jackson, whom he grilled at a Senate hearing this week. “Number one, defund the police. Number two, use that money to create, and I quote, safe spaces for LGBTQ+ individuals, trans individuals and two-spirit individuals. 

“Now, if you don’t know what a ‘two-spirit’ individual is, neither do I. And why would that have anything to do with reducing violence? Nobody knows, including him. When I confronted him about this – these were his own recommendations – he acted like he’d never heard of any of it. 

“And this is what the Democrats are doing now. Our cities are falling apart, our blue cities, because they’re run by people who love criminals rather than cops. And then they wonder why the city is overrun with criminals. 

“I just think you’ve got to expose these people for what they did. And I tell you what, when you listen to their prescriptions, their policy prescriptions, they’re nuts.”