A number of journalists and liberals are hitting The Associated Press for a tweet late Tuesday night in which the news organization said President Trump Donald John TrumpBarr criticizes DOJ in speech declaring all agency power 'is invested in the attorney general' Military leaders asked about using heat ray on protesters outside White House: report Powell warns failure to reach COVID-19 deal could 'scar and damage' economy MORE and Democrats in Congress are both to blame for the shutdown because "it takes two to tango."

The tweet said that while Trump is to blame for the shutdown for demanding money for his border wall, so are Democrats for rejecting it.

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"AP FACT CHECK: Democrats put the blame for the shutdown on Trump," the AP tweeted.

"But it takes two to tango. Trump's demand for $5.7 billion for his border wall is one reason for the budget impasse. The Democrats refusal to approve the money is another."

AP FACT CHECK: Democrats put the blame for the shutdown on Trump. But it takes two to tango. Trump's demand for $5.7 billion for his border wall is one reason for the budget impasse. The Democrats refusal to approve the money is another. https://t.co/9IWnqUgl2d — AP Politics (@AP_Politics) January 9, 2019

Those criticizing the tweet said Trump deserved the blame for the shutdown, arguing his demand directly led to the partial closure of the government.

Kevin Kruse, a professor of history at Princeton University, compared the government shutdown to a bank robbery, essentially arguing that Trump was the robber and that Democrats were the bank officials.

AP FACT CHECK: Bank officials put blame for the hostage crisis on the bank robbers. The robbers’ demand for “all the money you have” is one reason for the crisis. But the bank officials’ refusal to pay up is another. — Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) January 9, 2019

Matthew Yglesias, who writes at the left-leaning website Vox, and Washington Post reporter Dave Weigel also said the AP was wrong to put an equal amount of blame on Trump and congressional Democrats.

Weigel suggested it was like blaming the forest for a forest fire, while Yglesias raised the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

FACT CHECK: Californians put the blame for the forest fires on fire. But it takes two to tango. — Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) January 9, 2019

Fact check: FDR blames the Empire of Japan for the attack on Pearl Harbor, but it takes two to tango. — Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) January 9, 2019

Kaili Joy Gray, editor of the liberal media company Shareblue, tweeted a photo of the lone demonstrator who stared down a tank after the Tiananmen Square crackdown in China in 1989.

Takes two to tango pic.twitter.com/H1JeyAnL0K — Kaili Joy Gray (@KailiJoy) January 9, 2019

Neera Tanden, president of the liberal think tank Center for American Progress, called the tweet “terrible,” blaming Trump for not signing earlier bills that included $1.6 billion in funding for border security.

It literally does not take two to tango on this. The House and Senate have both passed $1.6 b bills. Trump could just accept them. Terrible tweet https://t.co/TtkwymEfjC — Neera Tanden (@neeratanden) January 9, 2019

Brian Fallon, a former press secretary for 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonBarr criticizes DOJ in speech declaring all agency power 'is invested in the attorney general' Virginia Democrat blasts Trump's 'appalling' remark about COVID-19 deaths in 'blue states' The Hill's Campaign Report: Biden asks if public can trust vaccine from Trump ahead of Election Day | Oklahoma health officials raised red flags before Trump rally MORE and executive director of Demand Justice, a group that fights Trump's judicial nominees, used the tweet to bring up Trump’s frequent attacks on the "fake news media."

TRUMP: The media is the enemy of the people.



MEDIA: No, we are not.



It takes two to tango?https://t.co/JJ2zblYJAQ — Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) January 9, 2019

Parts of the government have been shut down since Dec. 22.

The shutdown began after the Senate passed legislation by voice vote that would have kept the government open through Feb. 8. The Senate bill did not include new money for a border wall.

The day after the Senate vote, the House, then controlled by Republicans, passed legislation that provided $5.7 billion for the wall and border security and also kept funding for the government through Feb. 8. Democrats in the Senate rejected that measure.

Democrats took over the House on Jan. 3 and passed measures that would have reopened the government. The Senate, led by Republicans, has not allowed votes on those measures.