Fox News pundit Mark Levin, a conservative radio host, on Sunday downplayed the length of the longest government shutdown in U.S. history by incorrectly claiming that the government closes on weekends.
During a weekly phone-in conversation on Fox & Friends, Levin reflected on the damage done by the current government shutdown, which has lasted 29 days so far.
"By the way, just as a footnote," Levin said in the middle of his rant. "I keep hearing it's day 29 of the government shutdown. It's amazing how we count weekends, Christmas, New Year's, Martin Luther King's birthday on Monday as the government shutdown."
"You could call the Department of Agriculture on the weekend and nobody's answering the phone," Levin insisted. "So, it's 17 days that's a real government shutdown, not 29 days."
As National Park Service employees have noted, NPS staff and thousands of other federal work weekends and holidays as part of their job.
