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- [00:00]
Ben
I'm joined by House Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Congressman, yesterday Donald Trump held a press conference while he was once again on vacation. He threatened President Zelensky of Ukraine and he called Zelensky a dictator. I want to play the clip and I want to get your response to it. Let's play it first.
- [00:20]
Donald Trump
Like a fiddle. He played him like a fiddle. That's an expression we use. Yes, sir. To say that he's pretty easy. Pretty easy. A dictator without elections. Zelensky better move fast or he's not going to have a country left. Got to move. Got to move fast.
- [00:37]
Ben
What's your response, Congressman?
- [00:39]
Hakeem Jeffries
President Zelenskyy is not a dictator. He was a duly elected President of Ukraine. It's just stunning that Donald Trump continues to just lie so effortlessly to the American people. We know that President Zelensky is a champion for democracy, freedom and truth and an important ally to the United States of America is shocking. But I guess not surprising that Donald Trump continues to play footsie with Vladimir Putin, a sworn enemy of the United States of America.
- [01:16]
Ben
What's going on with your Republican colleagues, though? They pretend that they support Zelensky, but. But then when it comes down to it, they're spineless and they're supporting Donald Trump, who's doing what you just saw there. I mean, is there a way to. What can we do? Is there a way to shame these Republicans? How do we call them out? Whenever they're asked about it, they're always like, oh, we never heard what he said.
- [01:39]
Hakeem Jeffries
Part of the problem is that we're dealing with a group of people in the House Republican Conference and over in the Senate, where for far too many of them, facts don't matter. Hypocrisy is not a constraint to their behavior. They'll say one thing and then do something entirely different. And many of them have actually come to the conclusion that their shamelessness is a superpower. So from my vantage point, we can't let them get away with it. We have to hold them accountable. It's one of the reasons why we've been trying to make the point in the House that on any given issue, it only takes three House Republicans to break with the MAGA extremists and join all two hundred and fifteen House Democrats to stop bad things from happening and get some good things to happen for the American people, individuals all across the country, in every community, in every corner of America. It only takes three House Republicans. We're not asking for a mass example of Profiles in Courage, only three. And we can't let them off the hook. And as House Democrats, we won't let them off the hook.
- [02:57]
Ben
And so speaking of not letting them off the hook. But what if you can't get the three because they're afraid that Donald and Elon are gonna do a mean, a mean post? Look, Donald Trump's approval rating right now, it's sinking. It's down in the 40s. But you know, let's face it, Congress in general has a low approval rating. House Dems on recent polls don't have a great approval rating. People want to see fighting. They, I mean, they want to see Dems out there, I mean, peacefully protesting, but out there fighting for their rights. So let's just assume the three people don't come on board. I understand that Dems don't control the House, don't control the Senate, I get that. But people I think are saying, what can we do, Congressman? What can we do?
- [03:41]
Hakeem Jeffries
It's a very important question. And look, the flood of extremism and the parade of horribles that has been unleashed on the American people is an intentional strategy by Donald Trump and the MAGA extremists to try to disappoint, discourage and disorient the American people. It's an intentional strategy. Now, we're not gonna be intimidated, we're not gonna be cowed by it. We certainly will not bend the knee. Donald Trump is not a king. We don't have kings in the United States of America. So my view has been it's an all hands on deck effort that requires us pushing back aggressively on multiple fronts. We, of course, have to push back in the Congress, in the House and in the Senate, and we'll continue to do that. Every single Democrat on the House Budget Committee last Week opposed the GOP tax scam and spent 12 hours battling the extreme MAGA Republicans to make sure that we expose their scheme and their betrayal of working class Americans to people all across the country. We have to push back in the Congress. We will continue to push back aggressively in the courts, working with our allies, democracy reform groups, organized labor, civil society, and of course, the Democratic Attorney General. Shout out to Tis James, my Attorney General, who's doing her thing. We'll continue to work with them. There have been more than 75 different lawsuits that have been filed and counting related to at least 35 of the unconstitutional and unlawful executive orders from Donald Trump and his administration. And Ben, as you know, we're not losing in court. We're winning. We have to keep our foot on the gas pedal. But you're talking about dozens and dozens of lawsuits that have been filed that are righteous and necessary. And we're pushing back against Donald Trump and the extremism in the courts. And of course, and it's going to require everybody stepping up in communities all across the country. We're urging members to continue to hold town hall meetings, telephone town hall meetings, in person events show up in churches and synagogues and mosques and beauty salons and barbershops and schools and hospitals and everywhere that we can to bring along the American people as part of this multi pronged effort that includes pushing back on the ground in the community and bringing the American people along with us in this fight.
- [06:27]
Ben
You know, when people approach me when I'm out and about, they often say some variation of this. You know, Dems are, though, acting like it's business as usual, Ben, while Republicans, the MAGA extremists, Donald Trump and Elon Musk, they go, Ben, they're playing dirty out there. They're not. They're not following through with court orders. They've gerrymandered this. They're doing all of these tricks. And then Democrats are like, well, we got to go through the motions, we got to go through the rules, we got to go through these things. They go, Ben, it's asymmetrical warfare. So how do you even compete with that? You must hear some variation of that as well. I'm not sure if the implication is, is that, you know, Democrats need to be equally as dirty as Republicans. But what's your message when people are out there? You know, I think you hear that. I hear that a lot.
- [07:21]
Hakeem Jeffries
Listen, I think the American people understandably see all of what I would call diabolical intensity coming from the other side of the aisle. We have to not simply match that intensity, but exceed it by enlightened and righteous intensity. We have the high ground on these issues. The American people do not want to see Medicaid devastated. They want us to protect Social Security and Medicare. They don't want to see massive tax cuts for Republican billionaire donors and wealthy corporations, which is the whole objective behind the Republican budget scheme. And then they want to stick working class Americans with the bill. I think the American people actually want to see us do something meaningful to drive down the high cost of living in the United States of America. That was the central promise that Republicans made to the American people all of last year while they ran away from Project 2025, acted like it didn't exist. But this year they are doing everything they can to implement the most Extreme parts of Project 2025. And as part of that bait and switch, doing nothing, zip, nada, nothing at all. No plan, no bill, no legislation, no ideas, no initiatives to address the high cost of living in the United States of America. And we, of course, as Democrats, have to expose that, expose the hypocrisy, expose the lies that were told to the American people and use every tool available to us in the legislative toolbox, in the litigation toolbox, and in the mobilization toolbox in order to get America through this moment and make sure that we can come out stronger on the other side.
- [09:08]
Ben
Let's talk about that GOP budget scheme right now. What? $4.5 trillion in tax cuts for the billionaires and the oligarchs, $880 billion cuts in Medicaid, $250 billion cuts in agriculture to farmers, $350 billion in cuts to education. I could go on. There's nothing about no tax on tips, nothing about no tax on Social Security, nothing about no, no tax on overtime. So what are, what will the Democrats do when Republicans try to ram through, as Donald Trump says, my one big beautiful bill, which is the Project 2025 playbook? So what do Democrats do when they push this thing through and they say, and we, what if we can't find those three people? I mean, do, do Americans need to mobilize? We need to go to the street. What do we do?
- [09:59]
Hakeem Jeffries
Well, it's going to be incredibly important to mobilize in the same way that the American people mobilized in 2017 to work with members of Congress in the House and the Senate to stop Donald Trump and extreme MAGA Republicans from repealing the Affordable Care Act. And what's important to remember is that in 2017, Donald Trump lost the popular vote. And then it came to Congress. There were 241 Republicans and only 194 Democrats. We were buried in deep in the minority at that particular point in time. And yet the American people collectively rose up, worked with Democrats in the House and the Senate, and we were able to successfully stop the Republicans from repealing the Affordable Care Act. That was a tremendous victory for the American people. At the same time, they did successfully pass the GOP tax scam, where, as you know, 83% of the benefits were set aside for the wealthiest 1% in America, raised the debt by $2 trillion, and then stuck everyday Americans with the bill. And what they're trying to do right now is the GOP tax scam, part two. As I mentioned, every single Democrat in the most recent Budget Committee Markup of this GOP tax bill, voted against it, spent hours debating it. And we're going to intensify that effort when we get back to Congress and come back into session next week and we'll debate this bill on the floor. And we're gonna make plain for the American people what they are trying to do. Not simply massive tax cuts for their billionaire donors and wealthy corporations as well as the well off and well connected, but at the same period of time, they wanna devastate Medicaid. That is going to hurt children, hurt women, hurt seniors in nursing homes and who need the long term care. And of course hurt people with disabilities. They want to hurt veterans, they want to hurt older Americans who are on Meals on Wheels. They want to hurt children who receive nutritional assistance and rely on that nutritional assistance for their only meals in a given day. This is America. This is the wealthiest country in the history of the world. We have to do better. And we have to hold the Republicans accountable for the devastation that they are going to try to bring to the American people.
- [12:28]
Ben
And so finally, Congressman, let me ask you about this. So every day it seems that we wake up and we find out that DOGE is in some other government agency firing people. It feels just incredibly abusive, I think, to the American people as well. DOGE is now in the faa. Doge has entered the Treasury Department. And they're gaining access to, you know, the payment system. They're in the irs, they're getting access to your tax information. They're in Social Security, they're getting access to this. As Elon Musk is kind of morphing into these, like different roles. I'm the administrator of doge. I don't work at doge. I work in the White House. I don't, I'm, I'm here. I think people also want to know, how do you make, how is it possible that in America you've got an oligarch going into different office buildings of the government and just taking our stuff?
- [13:22]
Hakeem Jeffries
Yeah, I mean, it's a great question. First of all, what does any of this have to do with making life better for everyday Americans, with improving the quality of life, with driving down the high cost of living in this country? Absolutely nothing. Because their true objective, it appears, is to raid the federal government. There's no reason in the world why Elon Musk should need access to our names, our addresses, our bank account information, our birth dates and our Social Security numbers. There's no reason in the world why Elon Musk needs access to the tax returns. Of the American people. Look, we've introduced legislation to block him from getting this access. Lawsuits have been filed to stop him from accessing this data. And we've got to use every tool in the toolbox to push back against it and make sure the American people understand what's happening. Elon Musk has emerged as one of the most unpopular figures at this juncture, connected to the Trump administration. As you pointed out, Donald Trump's poll numbers are moving in the wrong direction. And it hasn't even been a month at this point in time. And so the real question for all of us is going to be, what is the corrupt bargain that has been struck between Donald Trump and Elon Musk? What is he really after in this regard? It certainly has nothing to do with protecting the best interests of the American people. And we're going to have to continue to drive that narrative home. And we will, as we close out.
- [15:00]
Ben
This interview, would love just to know your final message. We have over 4 million subscribers now and growing. They really wanted to see this interview. You got people out there who are worried, who are scared, who just wake up not knowing what to do. Is Trump gonna post this? Is he gonna declare war on that? Is he gonna tariff this? So just what's your kind of final closing message out there to everybody you know, right here in the middle of this week and on February 20th, MAGA.
- [15:29]
Hakeem Jeffries
Extremists want us to step back. We have to continue to aggressively push back. It is an all hands on deck effort, and it's going to require everyone. And we have to lean in with a level of intensity every day, every week, every month, get through the first 100 days, get through the year, get to the midterm elections, and then cut Donald Trump's presidency in half legislatively and begin to turn things around in the United States of America. We were successful during the first Trump administration in blocking the Affordable Care act from being repealed, which was their signature legislative objective, and in stopping other bad things from happening. Now they're back for going to be an epic struggle between those of us who want to move the country forward and the extreme MAGA Republican forces who want to turn back the clock. Those of us who want to bring the country together, the best of what a democracy should represent, and those who are trying to tear us apart. But in the history of this country, we're not a perfect country. But we've continued to march toward a more perfect union. And the reason is, in moments of turbulence, in moments of crisis, there have always been just enough of us who have come together to show up, stand up and speak up for what is right and ensure that America can continue to be the best version of herself. And that is exactly what is required at this moment. And if we channel that same level of engagement that prior generations have done this time around, at the end of the day will be successful.
- [17:22]
Ben
Well, I know that there are tens of millions of Americans who are ready to show up to peacefully protest. When we're told where we go, we see the protests, peaceful protests, starting already. So we're ready to show up. You tell us when and where and you will see that positive spirit. Peaceful protests throughout, and we're ready to go. So House Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, we're grateful for the work that you're doing and sharing some time with us here. We know how busy you are on the Midas Touch Network for everything that you do.
- [17:56]
Hakeem Jeffries
Great to be with you Everybody.
- [17:58]
Ben
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