LEADER JEFFRIES ON KEEPIN' IT REAL: "IF YOU'RE GOING TO SPEND BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, IT SHOULD NOT BE SPENT ON A WAR OF CHOICE IN THE MIDDLE EAST"

Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries appeared on Keepin' it Real with Rev. Al Sharpton, where he highlighted how Donald Trump continues to wage an unconstitutional war in the Middle East while continuing to abdicate his responsibility to make life better for the American people.

REV. AL SHARPTON: One of the things that I said at Reverend Jackson's funeral is that the action we take is imperative so that we can gain the power to get things done. And I referred to the fact that if the Democrats take the House, Hakeem Jeffries, who I've known a long time—a member of National Action Network—would be the Speaker. And he'll be a Speaker for everybody and will make sure that the issues and concerns we have are heard. And I have him on the live line, the Ranking Member of the House, the head of the Democratic Caucus, Congressman from Brooklyn, New York, Hakeem Jeffries. How you doing, Congressman, how you doing?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Good afternoon, Rev. Great to be with you. And thank you so much for that powerful remembrance and for, you know, the shout-out as to what the stakes are relative to the upcoming midterm elections. We're gonna fix these tricks in 2026. That was a memorable line. And we're gonna ride that all the way to victory.

REV. AL SHARPTON: Right, right. We definitely are going to—my theme for the convention this year, and you come every year, is straighten out tricks in '26 so we can open up the gates in '28. Give me your memory, Congressman, and your tribute to Reverend Jackson.

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, he was such a legendary, transformational, iconic leader who, of course, put liberty and justice for all first and equal protection under the law. Someone who had made such a tremendous difference in the lives of millions of Americans, certainly Black America, but for all Americans. We continue to be inspired by, stand on his shoulders to this very day. And at a moment like this, where we need the character and the courage and the conviction to push back against the extremism that's being unleashed on the American people, right, I think being able to have learned life lessons from just the example that Reverend Jackson displayed throughout the time that he led in such a phenomenal way is what continues to fuel those of us who are serving in Congress right now to get the job done.

REV. AL SHARPTON: Let me ask you the question of the U.S.-Israel war versus Iran. We're seeing it already causing some increase in gas prices here. What's at stake here? And what is the precedent being established if we keep having presidents that can go around the Congress declaring wars and not having a clear and transparent position to the American people on what we're doing?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Yeah, Donald Trump has failed to make the case to the American people that dropping bombs in Iran and getting the Middle East into an all-out war and conflict is actually making the American people safer. And in fact, what we're seeing is that it's complicating the lives of the American people, particularly as it relates to the affordability crisis. And we believe that if you're going to spend billions of taxpayer dollars, it should not be spent in a war of choice in the Middle East. It should be spent to lower the cost of housing, lower healthcare costs, lower the price of groceries that are causing people to struggle, millions of people struggling to live paycheck to paycheck. And on top of that, of course, this was an unauthorized war. The President had a responsibility to come to Congress, the representatives of the people, make his case to Congress, make his case to everyday Americans and to have this war authorized, because there's zero evidence that there was a threat that required preemptive action. We haven't seen that evidence presented in any way, shape or form. And as a result, that's one of the reasons why we're seeing this war already be deeply unpopular.

REV. AL SHARPTON: And last thing, and I thank you for staying with me. Trump says he will not sign any legislation until Congress passes a stricter voting requirement bill named SAVE. As the head of the Democratic Caucus, how do you respond to that? That he's going to block the signing of any legislation, until he sees his, in my opinion, voter suppression package passed.

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, I have two reactions. On the one hand, that's probably a good thing because any kind of legislation coming out of this Republican Congress is not designed to make life better for the American people. And we know what they have passed, their One Big Ugly Bill, was a complete and total disaster ripping Medicaid away from millions of Americans, enacting the largest cut to SNAP in American history and, at the same time, passing massive tax breaks for their billionaire donors and giving ICE a $75 billion slush fund. On the other hand, of course, we cannot allow the voter suppression legislation in the form of the so-called SAVE Act to pass. And we will not allow it to pass because at the end of the day, we should be lifting up the ability of Americans to participate in our democracy, not suppressing it.

REV. AL SHARPTON: Alright, we thank you for taking a minute to come on. And we're certainly—I'm sure I'll see you before the convention, but looking forward to seeing you at the convention. Thank you for calling in, Hakeem Jeffries.

Full interview can be listened to here.