LEADER JEFFRIES ON CNN: "THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE DISGUSTED WITH THE PERFORMANCE OF DONALD TRUMP AND REPUBLICANS"
Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries appeared on CNN This Morning Weekend, where he made clear that House Democrats are relentlessly focused on fighting for an affordable America.
MANU RAJU: House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who wants to be the next Speaker of the House, he is joining me live now to talk about the midterm elections 38 days away. Mr. Jeffries, good morning to you and thanks for being here. As you know, Cook Political Report is now predicting that Democrats will take the House in November. You've actually been saying that for months, making that prediction. So right now, what are you exactly predicting? Are you—do you anticipate a Democratic wave or a narrow victory?
LEADER JEFFRIES: We're going to work as hard as we can to get to 218, and then win as many seats on top of that as possible because we're focused on fighting for an affordable America. Life is way too expensive, Manu, here in the United States of America. There are too many people, millions of folks, working hard, playing by the rules, can't thrive and can barely survive. The Republican economic policies have been a disaster. They promised to lower costs on day one, costs haven't gone down, they've gone up. Democrats are determined to do something about that.
MANU RAJU: Mr. Leader, are you worried about the amount of GOP spending that is coming in late from Trump's outside organization and GOP outside groups? They're really bombarding the airwaves and they're dwarfing Democrats by nearly $200 million in House and Senate races. How concerned are you about that?
LEADER JEFFRIES: We always understood that MAGA Republicans were going to try to unload as much of their special interest money as possible. This is part of the problem with why Republicans have failed. They're not interested in promoting the public interest. They haven't done a damn thing to make life more affordable for the American people. Instead, they spend all their time raising money from their MAGA big donors, who they rewarded with a massive tax break in the One Big Ugly Bill, while at the same time ripping Medicaid, healthcare and nutritional assistance away from the American people. We're going to stay focused, continue to communicate our message. We know the most important issues in this election are not going to be about MAGA money. It's going to be about the economy, the high cost of living and combating inflation, which Donald Trump and Republican economic policies have dramatically worsened in this country.
MANU RAJU: Mr. Leader, let's talk about the generic ballot. The CNN poll from this week has Democrats with an eight-point advantage when voters are asked which party should control Congress. But in 2018, that's when Democrats had picked up 41 seats, at this time, Democrats had a 12-point advantage in the generic ballot. Now, given how bad the environment is for Republicans, why aren't Democrats holding an even bigger advantage now?
LEADER JEFFRIES: The plus-eight advantage is incredibly strong, and we're going to continue to run through the finish line. And remember, Manu, in 2018 we needed to flip 24 seats. We were at 194, we needed to get to 218. Right now we're at 215. It's one of the reasons why Republicans are running scared all across the country because we only need to flip a handful of seats to take back control of the majority, and that's exactly what we're going to do at minimum.
MANU RAJU: But does the fact that your advantage isn't even higher have anything to do with your own approval ratings, Mr. Leader? In that same poll, the approval of Democratic leaders is abysmal. It stands at 26%. And that is just two points better than GOP leaders. So why are the approval ratings of Democratic leaders still so low?
LEADER JEFFRIES: We're not running a popularity contest. We're working hard to run Republicans out of power because they've done so much damage to the American people. And the American people clearly deserve better. They clearly deserve a party—House and Senate Democrats—which are going to focus on making life better for the American people, Manu. Those are the stakes at this moment.
MANU RAJU: But do you think the public is not sold yet on Democrats leading Congress?
LEADER JEFFRIES: I think that we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Right now, we have to accomplish the mission. And the mission is to make sure that we take back control of the House, which we've maintained we were on track to do now for months. In fact, we were very confident about our ability to change direction in January 2025 and began to say so publicly. And we've had two goals: push back against the Republican extremism that has been unleashed on the American people and chart a better course forward, so that the American people actually can live a comfortable life, an affordable life and a good life.
MANU RAJU: I want to drill down to one critical district that you know very well: New York's 17th congressional district. That's where the incumbent Republican Mike Lawler—one of the top Democratic targets in the country—he's one of three Republicans who sit in districts that Kamala Harris won last cycle. You need to flip that seat. And just last week, a member of your Caucus, Jared Golden, Democrat of Maine, issued an endorsement of Lawler. Are you okay with that?
LEADER JEFFRIES: I issued a statement making clear that I thought the endorsement effort by Mike Lawler was a desperate attempt to head off what's coming on November 3, which is that Cait Conley, a decorated combat veteran, a patriotic hero, is about to flip that seat. In fact, I was with Cait last evening. I'll be spending some time with her in the district at some point soon. We're all in to make sure that she wins. Mike Lawler is an unmitigated fraud. He voted to cut Medicaid of his own constituents. He's consistently voted to rubber-stamp Donald Trump's reckless and costly war of choice in Iran, which has skyrocketed gas prices—
MANU RAJU: What about the fact that you have a member of your Caucus endorsing him?
LEADER JEFFRIES: You have to talk to Jared Golden about that. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, House Democrats, leadership, the members of the New York congressional delegation across the ideological spectrum—we all stand behind Cait Conley. And mark my words, she's going to win.
MANU RAJU: Okay, I want to ask you about something many people saw last night when watching the Northwestern-Indiana college football game. There's a taxpayer-funded ad from the White House. Watch this.
RECORDING OF AD: And nothing was going to stop him from fighting so hard for the country he loves.
MANU RAJU: Mr. Leader, the administration says that these are public service announcements with the goal of educating Americans and to ensure they are unapologetically patriotic. Any issue with that?
LEADER JEFFRIES: These aren't public service announcements. These are ads designed to elevate Donald Trump because he has record-low approval ratings across the board. Certainly, the American people are disgusted with the performance of Donald Trump and Republicans in the House, who are nothing more than reckless rubber stamps for his extreme agenda. And this is another example of how taxpayer dollars are being misused by the Trump cartel to try to elevate themselves or enrich themselves, their family members, their friends and their donors, as opposed to actually doing what Democrats will be focused on, which is spending taxpayer dollars to make life more affordable for hardworking American taxpayers.
MANU RAJU: Trump is also saying that he wants this election to be about him. He said, 'Vote like I'm on the ballot.' He is suggesting he could be in a few dozen battleground districts as well. Do you want Trump on the campaign trail?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Yes. And the reality is, Donald Trump is effectively on the ballot. His failed economic policies are on the ballot. The Trump Tariffs, which have increased costs on everyday Americans by thousands of dollars per year, on the ballot. His One Big Ugly Bill that ripped Medicaid away from about 14 million Americans—that's on the ballot. The Epstein cover-up is on the ballot. The failure of this administration to actually keep its promise not to start wars in the Middle East, but to stop them, is on the ballot because they turned around and did the exact opposite with the reckless war of choice in Iran. So certainly, Republican policies are on the ballot. The Democratic vision to make life more affordable for the American people, that's on the ballot as well.
MANU RAJU: I do want to ask you about the Wall Street Journal. It's reporting that President Trump has told aides he expects to resume bombing Iran after the midterm election. So if you become Speaker, will you vow to end the Iran war?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Absolutely. In fact, we've made that clear. We've now successfully on the House Floor passed three different War Powers Resolutions to end this reckless and costly war of choice in Iran. That's in the best interest of the American people—
MANU RAJU: You would cut off all funding?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Listen, we'll deal with the appropriations process when we deal with the appropriations process. Right now, the mechanism that is in front of us will be to aggressively move War Powers Resolutions until we end this war in the best interest of the American people.
MANU RAJU: Alright, we're going to have to leave it there. Leader Hakeem Jeffries, thank you so much for joining me this morning. Really appreciate it.
LEADER JEFFRIES: Thank you, Manu.
Full interview can be watched here.