LIVE: House Democratic Leader Jeffries Holds Weekly Press Conference (July 25)

Morning, everyone. Joe Biden is a patriotic American, a heroic American, a great American, and one of the most consequential presidents in American history. He's put the people of the United States of America ahead of his own political aspirations to serve a second term. Over the last three and a half years, President Biden, in partnership with Vice President Harris, have delivered for the American people in an extraordinary way to make life better all across the country. President Biden and Vice President Harris inherited three catastrophes at the same time from the prior administration. President Biden, in partnership with Vice President Harris, inherited a public health catastrophe that was badly mismanaged in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, a once-in-a-century public health crisis, and turned the situation around. President Biden and Vice President Harris inherited an economic catastrophe that resulted from the shutdown of the economy and, together, avoided a recession and have turned the situation around to move us in the right direction, including through the creation of more than 15 million good-paying jobs. President Biden and Vice President Harris inherited a democracy crisis, taking office only two weeks after the January 6th violent insurrection, where a violent mob of individuals tried to halt the peaceful transfer of power in a way that never before had occurred in the United States of America. President Biden and Vice President Harris inherited a public health catastrophe, an economic catastrophe, and a democracy catastrophe at the same time. Under the leadership of President Biden, in partnership with Vice President Harris, House Democrats and Senate Democrats have turned things around in order to create a brighter future for the American people. That's the Democratic track record. Extreme Maggot Republicans have been in the majority for over 18 months. Can anyone name a single thing that Extreme Maggot Republicans in the House have done in order to make life better for the American people? A single thing that they have done? You can't. As many House Republicans, like the distinguished gentleman from Texas, the Honorable Chip Roy, have pointed out, you can't name a single thing that Extreme Maggot Republicans have done on their own to make life better for the American people. They are incapable of governing. There's a big difference between the leadership of President Biden, Vice President Harris, House Democrats, and Senate Democrats, and the chaos, dysfunction, and extremism that we've consistently seen from House Republicans. It's not clear to me that any of the protesters associate with the left wing of the Democratic Party, when these are individuals who have been aggressively protesting members of the Senate since October 7, in connection with our support for the special relationship between the United States and Israel. That's a factual assumption that is inaccurate. With respect to the unlawful activity that we've seen take place, particularly outside of Union Station, it is unacceptable to deface public property, desecrate the American flag, threaten Jews with violence, or promote terrorist organizations like Hamas. Unacceptable. Anyone who engages in that activity should be held accountable to the full extent of the law. Not that complicated. It is my hope and expectation that in the conversations that the Prime Minister has today with both President Biden and Vice President Harris, that a major topic of the conversation will be the Biden-Harris peace plan that calls for, of course, the defeat of Hamas, the freeing of the hostages who have now been held in horrific conditions for close to 300 days, including American citizens alongside Israeli citizens, and for the immediate surging of humanitarian assistance into Gaza to help out civilians who have been in harm's way through no fault of their own. The Biden-Harris peace plan calls for a ceasefire of at least six weeks in phase one to allow for the movement toward a more permanent ceasefire and a just and lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinian people in a way that provides for the safety and security of the people of Israel, allows for the reconstruction of Gaza, partnerships with moderate Arab states like Jordan and Egypt, as well as movement toward normalization with Saudi Arabia, building upon the normalization that has already occurred with the Gulf states, and of course, in my view, surging economic activity of Palestinian civilians in both Gaza and the West Bank as part of a movement toward ensuring we can get to the just and lasting peace that every reasonable person in the world should want to see in the Middle East. What we've seen over the last few days is that the American people all across the land have been excited, enthusiastic, and energized by the candidacy of Vice President Harris. Vice President Harris has a vision that is designed to lower costs for everyday Americans, grow the middle class in price gouging, defend democracy, and protect reproductive freedom. Those are issues that are going to excite Democrats, but also, in my view, help move independents and swing voters in our direction as compared to the chaos, the dysfunction, and the extremism that we see on the other side of the aisle. Extreme Maggot Republicans are running away from their agenda because it's so deeply unpopular to the American people. The American people want no part of Trump's Project 2025, which is about total control over the lives of the American people by Extreme Maggot Republicans. That's what Trump's Project 2025 is about—total control over your life. We're all about freedom. Extreme Maggot Republicans want a nationwide abortion ban. Vice President Harris and Democrats believe in a woman's freedom to make her own reproductive healthcare decisions. Donald Trump and Extreme Maggot Republicans want to end Social Security and Medicare as we know it. Vice President Harris and Democrats in the House and the Senate want to protect and strengthen Social Security. These are the issues that are going to be important in our congressional districts all across the country, in the Senate, races, and the issues that will be before the American people in November. I am confident that Vice President Harris is on the right side of each and every one of those issues. I haven't had a single conversation with a member of the House Democratic Caucus who has expressed that they are upset with what has unfolded. We are all disappointed in the fact, in my view, that up until this point, the tremendous track record of accomplishment led by President Joe Biden hasn't necessarily been fully felt by the American people, but that often occurs. Yet President Biden, notwithstanding the fact, as he indicated last night, was ready to make his case to the American people. He decided in a selfless way to pass the torch to the next generation of Democrats led by Vice President Harris. We are unified. The other side is falling apart. Extreme Maggot Republicans are having a complete and total meltdown. They're lying about Trump's Project 2025. They're lying about reproductive freedom and their intentions to impose a nationwide abortion ban. They're lying about their desire to end Social Security and Medicare as we know it. Why are they lying? Because they're in freefall. Their agenda is unpopular. Their presidential nominee is the oldest in American history from a modern political party. Their vice presidential nominee is falling apart and crumbling right in front of us. Why was this guy selected? I'm confused. What does he add? What value does this guy add? Extreme Maggot Republicans are asking themselves that question right now. They're falling apart. Not that we're celebrating. They're falling apart. We're going to continue to put people over politics, fight for the things that matter, like lower housing costs, ending price gouging, growing the middle class, defending democracy, and fighting for reproductive freedom. House Democrats are going to continue to focus on trying to find bipartisan common ground with our Republican colleagues on any issue in order to make life better for the American people. That is what we have repeatedly done throughout this entire Congress. We believe that our job as members of Congress and representatives of the American people is to solve problems for hard working American taxpayers and deliver real results. That's the House Democratic caucus track record. The problem we confront is that the other side is all about chaos, dysfunction, and extremism. They are lying to the American people. We have a single legislative item that is on the floor today. Is it designed to address inflation? No. Is it designed to lower housing costs? No. Is it designed to help address challenges at the border? No. What is it? It's a fake and fraudulent resolution cooked up, I think, by one of the representatives from New York, who continues to embarrass herself regularly, that lies about the Vice President. She was never assigned the position of border czar. They're making that up because extremist Republicans are in full meltdown. They're reeling. They don't know what to do, and they lack an affirmative agenda. By the way, unlawful border crossings at this moment in time, thanks to the leadership of President Biden and partnership with Vice President Harris, is down to lower levels than what it was in the previous administration before the Biden administration took office. Not higher levels, lower levels. The Vice President was not a border czar. They're making that up because they have no affirmative agenda, vision, or track record for the American people. That is bipartisan legislation with respect to protecting young people and everyday Americans in terms of egregious online behavior. I am hopeful that we'll see bipartisan legislation that emerges from the Senate taken up on the floor of the House of Representatives upon our return, including legislation that is being championed by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez here in the House. I didn't see the activity of Rashida Tlaib. As I understand it, she was to my left. I was focused on the speech that was being delivered and processing the information that was being communicated by the Prime Minister. Thanks. Rashida Tlaib is an elected member of Congress. She has a responsibility to her district in the same way that I have a responsibility to my district. Political violence is not acceptable in any way, shape, or form in the United States of America. Any effort to understand what happened, why it happened, and how do we prevent any type of attempted assassination on a political leader in the United States of America from ever happening again should be done in a thoughtful, comprehensive, and bipartisan fashion. The House voted on legislation yesterday to establish a bipartisan task force that received unanimous support from both Democrats and Republicans. That is the appropriate way to go. I'm thankful that the former president was not seriously injured in the attempt on his life, and I wish him a full and complete recovery. Thank you. Well, it's unclear to me which specific group you're talking about. There are a variety of Black Lives Matter chapters across the country. There's no one national organization, and so it's hard to respond without understanding the context. Other than to say Kamala Harris is the presumptive nominee for a reason. She has excited, energized, and united Democrats all across the country, and that will be reflected, in my view, in the vote of the delegates, who have the ultimate power to determine who represents the Democratic Party at the top of the ticket. There is a process that has been set forth by the Rules Committee of the DNC, by which anyone can petition to secure enough delegate support to get their name placed into consideration to be the presidential nominee for the Democratic Party. That's an open, available, and accessible process. But Vice President Kamala Harris, because of the strength of her vision, her ideas, and her track record, has all but cleared the field. Not from the top down, but from the grassroots up. Last question? Yes. I haven't heard any of that from anyone that I'm privileged to represent back home in New York City, or in any of my travels throughout the country, or from any single member of the House Democratic Caucus, or from any of our supporters who have embraced the candidacy of Vice President Kamala Harris. This was all organic in terms of the surge in enthusiasm and energy directed at Vice President Harris's campaign. She, in fact, indicated that she's going to work hard to earn the nomination. She has done it presumptively in record speed. All of the many highly qualified individuals who could have potentially entered into the nomination process decided on their own volition to back Vice President Kamala Harris. These are bashful individuals, but they decided on their own that unifying behind Vice President Kamala Harris was not just the right thing to do for the Democratic Party. It's the right thing to do for the country. As Democrats, we're going to fight, led by Vice President Harris, for freedom. We're going to fight for American families. We're going to fight for a brighter future for the American people.