LEADER JEFFRIES ON MS NOW: "DONALD TRUMP AND REPUBLICANS HAVE FAILED THE AMERICAN PEOPLE FROM THE VERY BEGINNING OF HIS PRESIDENCY"
Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries appeared on MS NOW's The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell, where he highlighted how Republicans have betrayed their promise to lower costs on day one while House Democrats continue to fight for a future where every American can afford to live a good life.
LAWRENCE O'DONNELL: Leading off our discussion tonight is House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Thank you very much for joining us tonight, Leader Jeffries. I lead in with Donald Trump there because that's the guy who House Republicans were being asked to follow, Senate Republicans were being asked to follow. A guy who obviously is willing to stand up there and tell that pathological lie about a poll that absolutely never happened and a conversation that never happened, a completely invented conversation, the kind of conversation that if your grandfather did it, you'd try to get him some care. That's the person who Mike Johnson was trying to get every Republican to support on this vote until he knew he couldn't.
LEADER JEFFRIES: That's exactly right. What we're witnessing is an extraordinary meltdown in real time. Donald Trump and Republicans have failed the American people from the very beginning of his presidency. And we're starting to see the reality of that hit my Republican colleagues. We saw that with the unconditional surrender resulting in the Epstein files being released. Now it's wild to me that Donald Trump would suggest that I guess he's saying he could beat George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. This guy couldn't beat Richard Nixon right now because he's been such a disaster as our President.
LAWRENCE O'DONNELL: I want to ask you about Donald Trump's attack on you tonight. You know, in his announcement, 'I have just signed the bill to release the Epstein files.' He surrounded it with this long screed against a lot of people, including you. And the quote from the statement that he wrote tonight is 'Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries who asked Epstein to donate to his campaign after Epstein was charged.' And we found the email that he's referring to, it's a 2013 fundraising email that looks like it—I'm sure you've seen. What is your response to that?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Yeah, he knows that that's a lie as it relates to anything that I've personally asked for. In fact, you had some House Republicans suggesting on the House floor that I had somehow met with Epstein, had dinner with Epstein, raised money from Epstein, none of which is true. This random email that he's referring to was first brought to my attention yesterday. And so, what we're seeing from Donald Trump and the Republicans is that they've repeatedly tried to distract after failing with their effort to suppress the Epstein files. This was a victory for the survivors. It's a victory for the American people. It's a victory for transparency. And we're going to stay on the case until these files are released. And once that happens, there's going to be real accountability.
LAWRENCE O'DONNELL: About the email, I just want to clarify for the audience, the email is not from you. It's from someone named Lisa Rossi. And it clearly it is addressed to Jeffrey Epstein. And it's the kind of email that goes out literally by the thousands to fundraisers like this and clearly is introducing you to Jeffrey Epstein as someone they presume he has no idea who you are. It's filled with biographical information about who you are on the assumption that he doesn't have any idea who you are, and it's an invitation to contribute to these groups, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee. It's the kind of fundraising email that does go out by the thousands upon thousands. And I'm sure there'll be a lot more coverage of that. Leader Jeffries, as Donald Trump continues to tell this lie that this was his idea, that this vote was his idea. He is assuming his followers are willing to believe absolutely everything. You know what this fight took. You know that this discharge petition made history, just very few of them have ever passed the House. And as we go forward, as you realize, the question becomes, now, what will the Trump Justice Department actually release?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Yeah that's correct. And we expect that Pam Bondi, the so-called Attorney General, they're going to play games as it relates to trying to selectively withhold documents. And we're going to stay on the case. Listen, Representative Massie, Representative Khanna, this coalition, certainly the survivors, House Democrats partnering with Senate Democrats, we're going to make sure that the documents are released, that you have full and complete transparency, and then the chips will fall where they may. And that's what the American people deserve at this particular point in time. We're also going to continue to press our case on these issues that matter. Driving down the high cost of living, fixing our broken healthcare system, certainly fighting hard to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits. And, Lawrence, I think you know House Democrats have launched a discharge petition to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits for three years in order to try to make sure that tens of millions of Americans don't experience dramatically increased premiums, copays and deductibles. And all we'll need is a handful of Republicans to join us and we can force that bill onto the House Floor for an up or down vote.
LAWRENCE O'DONNELL: And it seems the discharge petition now is the route to legislation in the House of Representatives. It never was before, but Mike Johnson has completely lost control. Does this vote tell you that there are new possibilities in the House for your discharge petitions?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Yeah, that's absolutely correct. What we've seen is the ability to defy the Speaker of the House when we've made our case successfully to the American people. And it certainly is true that over the last several weeks, we've raised the stakes around the issue of the Affordable Care Act tax credits and the need to make sure we're protecting healthcare for working class Americans, middle class Americans and everyday Americans so they can afford to go see a doctor when they need one. The pressure will continue to mount the closer that we get to the end of December, and this is a viable vehicle available to us to get things done for the American people.
LAWRENCE O'DONNELL: What do you make? You know, I normally don't talk about polls very much here, but that poll is quite striking that you Democrats now have a 14-point advantage in the ballot, in the general ballot poll in congressional elections. That's what it was a year before you won back the House of Representatives last time.
LEADER JEFFRIES: Yeah, no. And it's consistent with everything that we've seen, including the very real results a few weeks ago during the general election, when Democrats were successful all across the country in Virginia, in New Jersey, in New York, in California with Prop 50, in Pennsylvania, in Mississippi, in Georgia and in many other places throughout the nation. We're going to continue to see the American people rejecting the failures and extremism of Donald Trump and the Republican Party and embracing the Democratic message that, listen, in this country, when you work hard and play by the rules, you should be able to afford a good life, afford to live the good life. Good-paying job, good housing, good healthcare, good education for your children and a good retirement. That's what Democrats are fighting hard to achieve.
LAWRENCE O'DONNELL: What does it mean for Donald Trump's presidency if that all turns out to be true and the Democrats do take back the House of Representatives?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, at that point, we're able to cut his presidency in half legislatively, begin to really hold the administration accountable. The House will no longer function as nothing more than a reckless rubber stamp for Donald Trump's extreme agenda in most cases. Instead, we'll be a check and balance on an out-of-control executive branch, which is exactly what the framers intended the House to be.
LAWRENCE O'DONNELL: House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, thank you very much for starting off our discussions tonight.
LEADER JEFFRIES: Thank you.
Full interview can be watched here.