INCOMING LEADER JEFFRIES ON MSNBC: "HOUSE DEMOCRATS ARE UNIFIED AND READY TO GET TO WORK ON BEHALF OF EVERYDAY AMERICANS"
Washington, DC – In case you missed it, on the eve of the 118th Congress, incoming Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) appeared on MSNBC's The Beat with Ari Melber to discuss House Democrats' continued work to put People Over Politics.
MELBER: Congressman Jeffries, Leader Jeffries, thanks for being here. And as I say, they didn't make a sound. You are the party boss, your thoughts.
JEFFRIES: Well good evening. Great to be with you. Happy New Year. House Democrats, you know, we're unified. We're ready to go to get to work on behalf of everyday Americans. We're looking forward to the start of 118th Congress and building upon the incredible track record of legislative success that we've had over the last few years, continuing to work with President Biden, the administration, Senate Democrats to advance the ball for everyday Americans.
MELBER: Does it say anything? Does it reveal anything that you hit this path the way I just described? And McCarthy, according to his own party, his own Republicans, is facing this turmoil? Or you see that as internal stuff, not relevant.
JEFFRIES: Well the Extreme MAGA Republicans on the other side of the aisle are dealing with chaos, crisis, confusion and craziness. In many ways, it's a product of the Trump years and the fact that they refused to push back against Donald Trump's emergence and all that that represented. And in many ways, you reap what you sow. And that's the reality of what we're seeing right now on the other side of the aisle. That said, we have a job to do as Members of Congress, not Democrats or Republicans, but Americans. And we are going to make it clear that we want to extend the hand of partnership to our Republican colleagues and try to find common ground whenever and wherever possible. But we will at all times push back against extremism on the other side of the aisle whenever necessary. [...]
MELBER: Congressman, you and I have spoken before about sometimes what gets the most attention is not the whole story. The Biden administration has been criticized for a range of reasons, and we've certainly seen some headwinds in the economy and otherwise. Then you have headlines like this where Biden and Mitch McConnell, of all people, are appearing together. We can put this up on the screen. $1,000,000,000,000 in infrastructure spending that lawmakers approved on a bipartisan basis, just over 21. What do you see in this unusual coupling, if you will? [...] What do you see as this representing and can that be done again? Or now that the House Republicans are in charge, it's going to be very hard to get any anything like that through.
JEFFRIES: Well, that definitely remains to be seen. We do have a track record of bipartisan accomplishment. President Biden was very clear when he came into office that he was going to look to try to find opportunities to get things done with the other side of the aisle. And we were successful in doing that. Moving forward, we have a roadmap around things like lowering costs, fighting for better-paying jobs, safer communities, also, of course, defending democracy, fighting for freedom, protecting the public interest and ensuring economic opportunity across every corner of America. If the other side of the aisle is willing to come together around those issues, then there will be opportunity. If they double and triple down on their extremism, we're going to fight them at every turn.
MELBER: Yeah. When you look at who's coming in tomorrow, it's also a new crop of incoming Members. So you'll be doing that on your side and they have theirs on the Republican side. One who, you know, has gotten a ton of attention is George Santos. Here's some New York Times reporting that he's now admitted he fabricated parts of his educational professional history. Prosecutors are investigating if he committed crimes regarding the finances or misleading statements. The headline there, "a life of fantasy, comes into focus." My question for you is two parts. One, what is your take on Santos? Is he a random outlier or does it represent something more? And two, well, while this story is important, I'm curious, as we talk about a relatively unknown random person, first-time candidate lying, where that fits in with the work that the DOJ has to do given the other big story going into the holidays, which was your party, your committee, the January 6 Committee that you guys ran when you had the gavel, recommending people for charges because they didn't just lie on one debate stage, they tried to lie us into a coup. And I'm curious if you think there should be accountability for that. So, I wanted to get you on both Santos and other types of lies that matter.
JEFFRIES: Well, taking the second part of your question first, the January 6 Committee, under the leadership of Chairman Bennie Thompson, did an extraordinary job of laying out the facts what happened, why it happened, how do we prevent that type of extraordinary and violent attack and insurrection from ever occurring again. It's the job of the Department of Justice based on the report that was put together in such a compelling and comprehensive way by the January 6 Committee to now follow the facts apply to law, be guided by the Constitution and let the chips fall where they may, based on the premise that in America no one is above the law. To take the first part of your question as it relates to George Santos, he is a complete and total fraud. And the problem is that it's not clear to me that he's simply an exception in the modern day Republican Party, which has been taken over by Extreme MAGA Republicans, as we've seen repeatedly, individuals like Herschel Walker as a candidate or Kari Lake as a candidate. These people are divorced from reality, endeavoring to perpetrate frauds on the voters. Fortunately, it did not work in Arizona. It did not work in Georgia, but it did work in the Third Congressional District in New York State. And we're going to have to do something about that moving forward.
MELBER: Yeah, that makes sense. Do you do you feel, I mean, that kind of goes to the larger question here, people coming back from the holidays and oh, yeah, right, there's a new Congress coming in. Do you feel like this is a harder time for you to take on your role? You know, you have big, big shoes to fill, obviously, with Speaker Pelosi and you have been a loyal supporter of hers, obviously, in her leadership team, so I think you know that better than anyone. But in a way, I wonder whether this is actually even harder than some of the periods that she's faced for the reasons you just mentioned and for the utter lack of any common facts or framework with at least part of the other side, I'm always careful to say part of because we'll deal with all the facts and people on an individual basis. But whether you talk about Santos, you talk about MTG, you talk about some of these folks, if you can't get common facts, it's like, where do you even begin? So I'm curious, just big picture, I know you have an important job now and you speak carefully as politicians do, but is it a harder time? And what is your approach to that when when lies are so normalized and when a significant number of people in Republican Party, after everything we lived through and after January 6, which you just talked us through, still voted against the certification of the lawful winner of the election, still joined forces with the people trying to overthrow the election after what was now a convicted sedition on the House floor? I know it's a big question, but give you time for all of the above.
JEFFRIES: Well, first of all, incredible shoes to fill and it's going to take all of us to do it. Nancy Pelosi is an iconic, heroic, legendary leader who has navigated our Caucus and the House and the Congress through incredibly difficult times, from the Trump presidency to a once-in-a-century pandemic, the aftermath of a violent insurrection, the shutdown of the economy, it just goes on and on. And at the end of it all, produced an extraordinary track record of legislative accomplishment unrivaled in modern American history. It's going to take all of us as House Democrats to build upon that great legacy and move us forward. We do recognize that there are challenges that we confront right now because there are many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, unfortunately, who are divorced from reality. There are Republicans who we can work with and what we want them to do is just come forward and take your party back so we can find common ground around issues of significance that relate to kitchen table, pocketbook issues to make life better for the everyday Americans that we're privileged to serve. That's the tension that we're going to see play out on the other side of the aisle tomorrow and moving forward. What is the modern day Republican Party going to be about? Is it going to be about the Extreme MAGA Republicans, or more reasonable individuals who find common ground, who want to work with Democrats, who want to deliver for the American people?
MELBER: Yeah, well, you lay that out. I totally hear that. As we wrap up, this is a big night, the eve of these votes in the new Congress tomorrow as we start the new year. So I'm really thrilled that you made time – I know how busy you are – to come back on The Beat, and I'm going to put it like this. You can respond or not respond, but I'm going to put it like this. You could have been anywhere in the world tonight, but you're here with us and we appreciate that.
JEFFRIES: Well, thank you Ari. It's always a pleasure to be on your show. Appreciate you giving me the space to talk about how we're going to move forward as Democrats over the next year or two in delivering for the American people. And again, happy New Year to you and to all of your viewers.
The full interview can be watched here.