LEADER JEFFRIES: "DEMOCRATS ARE GOING TO RESPOND FROM COAST TO COAST AND AT ALL POINTS IN BETWEEN TO THIS EFFORT TO STEAL THE MIDTERM ELECTIONS"
Today, Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries appeared on MSNBC's Ana Cabrera Reports and CNN's The Situation Room where he criticized Republicans' gerrymandered Texas congressional map designed to rig the midterm elections and highlighted Democrats' commitment to pushing back against the extremism being unleashed by Donald Trump and Republicans across the country.
LEADER JEFFRIES ON MSNBC'S ANA CABRERA REPORTS:
ANA CABRERA: Texas Governor Greg Abbott's now threatening felony charges. He's threatening to replace these State Democrats. What's your reaction to these threats?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, the Texas Governor is a cowardly fake bully. He was ordered by Donald Trump to convene a special session of the legislature in order to gerrymander the Texas congressional map and try to rig the midterm elections. This is taking place at a moment in time where, just a few weeks ago, more than 100 people, including dozens of children, drowned to death in the Texas Hill Country as a result of that historic flooding and inaction or lack of preparation by Governor Abbott and Republicans in Texas. This is a cowardly move by Republicans in Texas. And I'm so appreciative of the courage, the character and the conviction being shown by Texas Democrats from the legislature.
ANA CABRERA: New York Governor Hochul, we just played there, calling this redistricting fight a war, saying 'this is a war. We are at war.' Is that how you see it?
LEADER JEFFRIES:Democrats are going to respond from coast to coast and at all points in between to this effort to steal the midterm elections. Republicans are on the run right now. Donald Trump is deeply unpopular. Their One Big Ugly Bill, which is now law, is deeply unpopular. It rips away healthcare from millions of Americans, steals food from the mouths of children. All of this is being done in terms of hurting everyday Americans so they can reward their billionaire donors. And they don't want to face the voters in a free and fair election. Perhaps Donald Trump and Mike Johnson and Republicans in Washington and Texas thought that Democrats would not respond. We're going to respond forcefully, aggressively and relentlessly.
ANA CABRERA: What do you mean this is an effort to steal the midterm elections?
LEADER JEFFRIES: The Republicans in Texas already drew a gerrymandered map that is being challenged in court as we speak. But that's not good enough for them. So they now want to enact a separate map in the middle of the decade that takes five seats that are currently held from Democrats, including several in majority minority communities around Austin, Houston and Dallas, breaks them apart and tries to put them into Republican hands. These extremists want to be able to choose their voters, as opposed to allowing the Texas voters to choose the people who should be privileged to represent them in Washington. It's theft. That's what gerrymandering in its extreme form is, and that's what Republicans are trying to do.
ANA CABRERA: Is that the case then if Texas repercussions lead to California lead to New York lead to Illinois potentially doing the same in those states to try to pick up more Democratic seats?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Great question. We're going to respond and respond forcefully. However, we also will operate within the constraints of the Voting Rights Act, which is not what Texas Republicans are doing. We need fair maps and one national standard, and that's why responses in Democratic states will be required. However, what was happening in Texas before and what is going on in Texas right now in terms of this second attempt to gerrymander the map we believe violates the Voting Rights Act. You will not see that happen in Democratic states, but you will see governors and state legislatures and, of course, Members of the House Democratic Caucus respond in kind. There is no unilateral disarmament when we're in the middle of an all-out assault by Donald Trump and Republican sycophants on the economy, on healthcare, on our way of life, on law-abiding immigrant communities, on democracy itself.
ANA CABRERA: You've called the Texas Republicans behind these redistricting efforts cowards, but this effort can be traced right up to the White House. The President has made no secret he wants this. Republicans want to cement control of your Chamber for a long time. They control all levers of government right now. Realistically, how can you stop them?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Understand that Donald Trump is afraid of the fact that the voters are prepared, in our view, to reject this impotent House Republican majority that has done nothing to improve the quality of life for everyday Americans, done nothing to lower the high cost of living, nothing to give these hardworking American taxpayers across the country the ability to thrive when right now, people can barely survive and Donald Trump and House Republicans are crashing the economy in real time. We're only three seats short from taking back the House. That is a historically close number. That is what has House Republicans and Donald Trump scared to death of what is going to happen in the midterm election. That's why we're seeing this extraordinary action in Texas. But you also are going to see an extraordinary response from Democrats coast to coast, throughout the country and at all points in between.
***
LEADER JEFFRIES ON CNN'S THE SITUATION ROOM:
WOLF BLITZER: I know you recently traveled to Austin, Texas to meet with the Democratic lawmakers there about this redistricting proposal. We've seen Texas Democrats try to use these quorum breaks before, only for them to fail like back in 2003 and then in 2021. How will this time be any different?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, in the 2021 quorum break, actually, I would argue that Texas Democrats were successful in forcing Republicans to walk away from some of the more extreme parts of the voter suppression law that were being contemplated at the time. They still moved forward with their efforts to try to suppress the possibility of a free and fair election in Texas. This is what they do. But the Texas Democrats were successful in reducing the extreme nature of what was being proposed. But this moment does require, you know, an extraordinary response because this is an extraordinary act that Republicans have been ordered to undertake to try to gerrymander the Texas congressional map as part of an effort to rig the midterm elections, Wolf. That's what this is all about because Donald Trump, House Republicans and the Texas Republican Party, they're all running scared because they have failed the American people.
WOLF BLITZER: The Texas Governor, as you know, Leader Jeffries, we're talking about Greg Abbott, he's threatened to remove Texas House Democrats who actually left the state from their positions because it, quote, 'amounts to an abandonment,' he says, or a 'forfeiture of elected state office.' Governor Abbott also says Texas Democrats may have violated what he calls bribery laws. How do you respond to all of this?
LEADER JEFFRIES: The Republican Governor of Texas is out of his mind. There is no basis to charge these House Texas Democrats who have refused righteously to, at the moment, vote on an extraordinary map that would hurt their constituents that they are privileged and sworn to represent right now. Governor Abbott is making idle threats. He is all hat no cattle.
[...]
WOLF BLITZER: As you know, Leader Jeffries, more Republican states are now looking at potentially engaging in this redistricting as well. Do you worry this could be a never-ending cycle of redistricting across the entire country?
LEADER JEFFRIES: First of all, Wolf, we appreciate the strong leadership being shown by Governor Kathy Hochul, Governor Gavin Newsom, Governor JB Pritzker and governors all across the country because this is an unprecedented moment that America and the world find ourselves in at this particular period of time. Donald Trump and the Republican Party have launched an all-out, unprecedented assault on the economy, on healthcare, on veterans, on farmers, on everyday Americans, on the rule of law, on law-abiding immigrant families and, of course, on democracy itself. It's an all-hands-on-deck moment for us. That means House Democrats, Senate Democrats, Democratic Governors, Democratic Members of the state legislature, Democratic Attorney Generals, but most importantly, the American people. All of us need to show up and stand up and speak up for an America actually that is enlightened and inclusive and lifts people up, as opposed to the America that we're in right now, where Donald Trump and Republicans are determined to tear people down.
WOLF BLITZER: When you were in Austin, Texas, Leader Jeffries, last week, you argued that Texas Republicans, in your words, at the urging of President Donald Trump, were trying to rig elections by allowing politicians to choose their own voters through this redistricting proposal. What do you say to the argument that Democrats would be guilty of the same charge if they gerrymandered in so-called blue states, Democratic-led states?
LEADER JEFFRIES: What Democrats would be doing in response is to make sure that there is one fair national map so that the people of this country will have the opportunity to make a decision in November of next year in deciding who should actually serve in the majority in the United States House of Representatives. We think that Republicans are scared to death that they are on the brink of losing the House of Representatives. This One Big Ugly Bill that they passed into law rips away healthcare from the American people, steals food from the mouths of children, hurts everyday Americans in order to reward their billionaire donors with massive tax breaks and they've broken their fundamental promise to lower the high cost of living. Costs aren't going down in America. Costs are going up. Job creation is going down. And unemployment is going up as Donald Trump and Republicans are crashing the economy in real time. We're not afraid, as Democrats, to make our case to the American people that we will lower the high cost of living. We will fix our broken healthcare system. We will clean up corruption so we can deliver a government that actually works for the American people and is not a government of the billionaires, by the billionaires and for the billionaires. We're prepared to take that case directly to the American people. Republicans are trying to rig the congressional maps because they don't want to have this fight on the merits.
Full MSNBC interview can be watched here and full CNN interview can be watched here.