'They Want It Both...': Hakeem Jeffries Delivers Brutal Message To Trump's GOP In Explosive PC

Good afternoon, everyone. It's about six weeks until Judgment Day. Democrats are running toward the finish line. Republicans are running scared all across the country. The American people know that the Trump-Republican economy has been a complete and total failure and that Democrats are on their side. Democrats are committed to driving down the high cost of living. Democrats are committed to making sure that healthcare is affordable for every single American. And Democrats are committed to ending this reckless war of choice in Iran that has skyrocketed gas prices, skyrocketed food prices, and skyrocketed diesel prices on the American people in the Midwest and beyond. Six weeks until Judgment Day, House Democrats are running toward the finish line, and Republicans are running scared. Questions? We don't see conflict with China, but we are in a strategic competition in all the different areas. And we should make sure that President Trump understands who our adversaries are across the world and who our allies have been. Taiwan is an ally. And hopefully, Donald Trump is not going to give up Taiwanese autonomy or sovereignty or territorial integrity in ways that will be inconsistent with what past presidents, whether they are Democrats or Republicans, have done. Given your opposition to this intercollegiate athletics bill in the Senate, I know some members of the CBC have had a lot of resistance to this, but also specifically last December when they pulled a different sports bill off the floor here. You characterized that as the Lane-Kiffin Protection Act. There's some who say we want to get, you know, so Lane-Kiffin or Lane-Kiffins of the world can't skip from school to school. Is there something that could sweeten that if they were to put some restrictions in that? There's an amendment that might be in the Clinton Senate on that specific issue. Well, I continue to support the position that has been articulated by the Congressional Black Caucus and by the NAACP relative to anything related to the collegiate sports legislation moving its way through the Senate or eventually coming to the House. What I can also say is that as I travel the country, what the American people are particularly focused on right now is the fact that the cost of living is way too high. Life is too expensive. There are far too many people who are working hard, they're playing by the rules, they cannot thrive and they can barely survive. Like people are stressed the hell out every time they have to go to the grocery store, every time they have to pay the rent or mortgage, and every time they have to put gas in the tank. Stressed the hell out. That's unacceptable in this country. That's why Democrats are going to continue to keep our focus in a laser-like manner on fighting for an affordable America, on lowering the cost of groceries, gas, and housing, and certainly fighting to make healthcare affordable for every single American. We'll deal, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it, but right now it's premature. The bill hasn't even passed the Senate, let alone come over to the House. And obviously this is an issue that at the earliest, the House Democrats will deal with it in November or December, at the earliest. The problem as it relates to why diesel prices are sky high right now, it relates directly to Donald Trump's and the Republicans' reckless and costly war of choice in Iran. That's the cause of the problem as it relates to high gas prices, high diesel prices, and high fertilizer prices, which in turn is increasing costs on everyday Americans, including as it relates to groceries and the food that they're struggling to put on their table. And so Republicans can try one gimmick after the other, but they refuse to deal with the source of the problem. Go tell Donald Trump to end that war in Iran that no one in America asked for in the first place. And as a matter of fact, the American people expected something different because Donald Trump and Republicans promised in November of 2024, not to start endless wars in the Middle East, but to stop them. And then Donald Trump and Republicans in lockstep, continuing to be nothing more than reckless rubber stamps for Donald Trump's extreme agenda. Donald Trump and Republicans started this reckless war of choice in Iran. And that is the reason for the high gas prices, the high diesel prices, and the high fertilizer prices that are suffocating farmers, people in the Midwest, and folks all across our great country. I haven't even evaluated it. I haven't seen the proposal coming from the Senate Republicans. What I can tell you is that Senate Republicans right now aren't really serious about actually solving the problem. Because if they were, they would march right down to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and tell their boss to end this war. Now, it's interesting to me that several of them who are in tight races and are on the verge of losing, including in places like Iowa or Michigan or Wisconsin, are all now starting to say the war needs to end. Where were these Republican sycophants over the last six plus months when Democrats in lockstep have been fighting to end the war of choice in Iran, precisely because it's not made our country safer, but it has made America and the American people economically weaker. That's the source of the problem. Let's deal with the source of the problem. Well, we have an example of Democrats actually working together with Republicans in this Congress to do something about the housing affordability crisis, which is why we came together, led by Maxine Waters on the House side working with French Hill and Elizabeth Warren on the Senate side working with Tim Scott. Evidence of what we as Democrats have said from the very beginning, we're willing to sit down, have a conversation, talk to anyone, anytime, any place, if they are authentically committed to lowering the high cost of living. And where possible, finding common ground with people who we may otherwise disagree with, which is exactly what was done on the housing affordability bill. Thankfully, without the signature of Donald Trump is now law. That's the problem. I'm here. Many House Democrats are here. The Senate. Another decision made by House Republican leaders to get out of town before sundown, as opposed to solving problems of importance to the American people. The number one problem being, how do we lower the high cost of living? This is part of the reason why, by every measure, the American people right now trust Democrats on the economy, trust Democrats to solve the inflationary challenges that we have, trust Democrats to lower the high cost of living. Of course, trust Democrats on health care, trust us on the war, trust us on the deficit, and even trust us on immigration, because they know Donald Trump and his violent mass deportation machine has gone way too far in brutalizing and killing American citizens and violently targeting law abiding immigrant families, as opposed to using taxpayer dollars to make life more affordable for the American people. Haven't had an opportunity to look at that legislation. There are a variety of different bills that are being put forward. The one thing I do know is that we should act urgently to promote safety as it relates to artificial intelligence. And the problem, again, is that Mike Johnson and the Republicans apparently believe there is no problem, even though industry leaders and stakeholders are saying there is a problem. And we need to figure out how to pace things or slow things down in order to promote the safety, the well-being and, you know, the security of the American people, while at the same time recognizing that we're not going to allow the Chinese Communist Party to catch us. But at the same period of time, we can't allow this explosive technology to hurt us and hurt the American people. So, you know, we continue to receive ideas from a variety of people within the House Democratic Caucus. What is clear, progressive Democrats, New Dems, Blue Dogs, all at least agree that something should be urgently done. That's why I'm here right now, having conversations with others on a variety of issues to figure out how we can solve some of these problems for the American people and Republicans in the House. Nowhere to be found, even though we were scheduled to be in session this week and next week, nowhere to be found because they have no interest. They don't give a damn, these Republicans, about making life better for the American people. Sorry. But what I have said, and Catherine Clark, Pete Aguilar and myself are all co-sponsors of the West Bank Violence Prevention Act, the legislation introduced by Jerry Nadler that I think now has broad support across the House Democratic Caucus family is certainly a legislative step that should be considered in order to push back aggressively against the out-of-control settler violence in the West Bank that cannot continue. We have a whole host of other challenges that need to be resolved in the Middle East, and I believe they should be anchored in two different principles. One, we support, I support Israel's right to exist as a Jewish and democratic state and support Israel's ability to live side by side in peace and prosperity with a Palestinian state. And we need to lean into the notion that creating a Palestinian state so that the Palestinian people can achieve the dignity and self-determination that they long deserve needs to be a twin priority. And I think that's a view broadly shared within the House Democratic Caucus. Well, it's all hands on deck right now and we continue to encourage every single member of the House Democratic Caucus to be as supportive as they can. Cycle to date, we've continued to narrowly outrace our Republican counterparts, House Republicans versus House Democrats, and we need to continue to keep that pace going forward. Now, we're going to have the resources necessary to win in a competitive environment, and certainly what Republicans are facing right now is a challenging environment. This is why they're running scared, and they want it both ways, these Republicans. Because for 10 years, Republicans have been more afraid of Donald Trump, their boss, than they have been of the American people for 10 years. And now all of a sudden, they're waking up and they're understanding that Donald Trump is deeply unpopular, the Trump economy has been a failure, the Trump tariffs have been a disaster, and the war of choice has skyrocketed gas prices on everyday Americans. And so you have a handful of Republicans now pretending as if they want to create some distance between themselves and Donald Trump. And Republicans acting like they care about the voters. For 10 years, you haven't given a damn about what the voters think. Because Republicans have simply bent the knee to Donald Trump. Now they want it both ways. On the one hand, they want Donald Trump's MAGA money. I mean, they're feeding at the trough of Donald Trump's MAGA money. It's the only thing they have left. And on the other hand, they want to pretend as if they're creating distance between Donald Trump and themselves. But ain't no such thing as halfway crooks. They're scared to death, they're scared to look, they're shook. These Republicans are running scared. And the American people will have the last word. No, we're focused on taking back control of the House, and taking back control of the Senate. And by the way, you know, in January of 2025, the view was, it's finished, it's over for the Democratic Party. But many of us said, then news of our demise is greatly exaggerated. And at the end of the day, all of us are going to be judged by our ability to both push back against MAGA extremism. And we've battled Republicans on every issue, battle them on the tariffs, battle them on the reckless war of choice, battle them on the Medicaid cuts, battle them on the Epstein cover up, battle them on ICE funding, battle the Republicans on the unprecedented corruption they've unleashed on the American people, and battle them on their one big, ugly bill. We have to continue to battle them in every possible way in order to protect the American people. And at the same period of time, continue to articulate a vision that connects us as Democrats with the American people on the issues that matter. And I think the reality is, six weeks or so from the election, we see that the American people trust Democrats across the board on all the issues that matter, including the economy, including combating inflation, including lowering the high price of living, including the war, and including immigration. And the rest of it will speak for itself in terms of where we ultimately land. But personally, I'm not running, you know, a popularity contest. We're trying to run through the finish line and take back control of the House We're committed to getting something done on AI safety now. We should be in session today, tomorrow, this week, and next week. It's extraordinary to me that Republicans have gotten out of town, raced out of town. I don't know why. Because there's nothing that they can do between now and election day to reverse their fortunes. The Republican economy has been a disaster, and the American people know it. That's why Republicans are now running away from their own legislative track record and their own big, bold claims of some massive mandate last January that I said didn't exist. Didn't exist last January, didn't exist this January, and it certainly doesn't exist now. So on AI safety, we should do something. We're committed to doing something now. And that's what should happen. And I'm thankful for the leadership of Ted Lieu, Val Foushee, and Josh Gottheimer, who are part of the commission that we set up on AI to protect the best interests of the American people. And there will be some recommendations forthcoming. And then there are other members of Congress who are thought leaders in this area, including, you know, future chairs like Zoe Lofgren, of course, and Frank Pallone, as well as members of the Energy and Commerce Committee like Laurie Trahan. Well, we'll have that conversation in the aftermath of the November general election, and we'll cross that bridge. When we get to it, there'll be a variety of different perspectives. I mean, what we have to do right now is continue to make our case to the American people that we're fighting for the principle in this country that when you work hard and play by the rules, you should be able to live a good life, an affordable life, and a comfortable life. And that's not happening right now in America because of failed Republican policies. The American people are drowning in the Trump economy. They've had enough. And that's why Republicans are heading toward electoral defeat.