LEADER JEFFRIES ON MS NOW: "REPUBLICANS ARE ON THE RUN BECAUSE THEY'VE BEEN COMPLETE AND TOTAL FAILURES"
Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries appeared on MS NOW's All In with Chris Hayes, where he reiterated that while Republicans have failed to deliver on their promise to lower costs on day one, Democrats are fighting to bring down the cost of living, fix our broken healthcare system and clean up corruption.
CHRIS HAYES: And joining me now is House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York. Obviously, Congressman, it's too early to say anything definitively, but what do you think about the run-up to this race, given the intensely unfavorable terrain it's being contested on for the Democratic Party, and the amount of resources that the Republican Party put into it?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, good evening, Chris. Great to be with you. And I think intensely unfavorable terrain would be a very generous description of the hostility that the Democratic candidate faces deep in Trump country in the heart of Tennessee, right? A very red part of America, with Republicans, as you've pointed out, having spent millions of dollars to hold on to a seat that Donald Trump just won by 22 points. So the fact that this is even a close race, potentially a single-digit race, whatever the outcome, in and of itself is extraordinary and reinforces the point that Republicans are on the run because they've been complete and total failures, and the American people know it. And Democrats are continuing to lean in to the fact that we want to solve real problems for the American people, drive down the high cost of living, deal with the affordability crisis and certainly fix our broken healthcare system.
CHRIS HAYES: I want to ask you about the healthcare system, but since you mentioned affordability, I want to play you what the President said about the word affordability, that it's a scam, I guess, concocted by Democrats. Take a listen.
VIDEO OF PRESIDENT TRUMP: There's this fake narrative that the Democrats talk about affordability. They just say the word. It doesn't mean anything to anybody. You just say it...The word affordability is a Democrat scam.
CHRIS HAYES: I imagine you disagree, but what do you mean by that word when you say it?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, listen, Donald Trump's whole life is a scam. The Trump administration is a scam, and certainly the so-called House Republican majority is a scam. These people promised that they were going to lower costs on day one, right? They provided the measuring stick. They made that promise to the American people. And of course, costs aren't going down, costs are going up. The Trump tariffs are creating a crisis in affordability. Thousands of dollars in additional expense for everyday Americans in terms of goods and groceries. We know that housing costs are through the roof, electricity bills are skyrocketing and now, because of the Republican refusal to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, tens of millions of Americans are about to experience dramatically-increased healthcare costs. And what does that mean? In some cases, $1,000 or $2,000 per month. And as you know, Chris, these are working-class Americans, the average income around $63,000 per year. This will make healthcare unaffordable. People will be unable to see a doctor when they need one.
CHRIS HAYES: There was some discussion about, after the shutdown resolved, would there be some path forward on extending those subsidies? There's, I think, about 12 Republican Members who are gonna be in very competitive districts, who all right now are looking at these results in Tennessee. I guarantee you they have them up on their phone, and they're looking at them right now, talking about, well, we need to. They wrote a letter to Mike Johnson. We gotta extend them. You see there, that's the latest there, Aftyn Behn up by eight points of 41% in. We're gonna keep our eyes on that. That seems to have petered now. Like, what is the status of that? Is there any motion on the House side at least to extend these subsidies?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, on the House side, of course, House Democrats have introduced a discharge petition. We now have 213 signatures, which basically means we just need a handful of these House Republicans, these so-called moderate Republicans, who spent months claiming that as soon as the Trump shutdown ended, they were prepared to work together with us to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, but we've heard nothing from them over the last several weeks. And it appears that they just talked to talk, but are unwilling to walk the walk. We're gonna continue to keep the pressure on them because the clock is ticking, and it's a very real crisis that the American people are gonna face. And as you know, the majority of states that will be most adversely impacted are Republican-run states. We're talking about states like West Virginia, Wyoming, Alaska, Mississippi and Tennessee, it turns out, that will be impacted if Republicans refuse to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits. And so, we'll see some action potentially in the Senate next week. We're gonna continue to press the case to force an up-or-down vote on a straight three-year extension in the House. And we're in this fight until we win this fight on behalf of the American people.
CHRIS HAYES: I wanna ask you about the story we were covering in the earlier blocks, the reporting about that second strike on the survivors of an initial strike of a boat in the Caribbean. What do you want to see? The Senate is—has talked about conducting oversight, including Roger Wicker, who's the Chair of Armed Services there. There's been a few Republican House Members who've expressed their misgivings or concerns. What do you think should be happening in the House?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, Chairman Mike Rogers of the Armed Services Committee in the House has jointly indicated with Adam Smith, the once and future Chairman of the Armed Services Committee on the Democratic side, that there will be a investigation into potential illegality as it relates to the strikes that were ordered, that clearly the so-called Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, the most unqualified Secretary of Defense in American history, had knowledge of and was a part of. And that investigation is going to reveal some interesting things. It's clear that Donald Trump and Hegseth are trying to throw the Admiral under the bus. And we're not going to allow them to get away from that. It's a cowardly act, and we're going to follow this investigation as far as it needs to go. And hopefully, our Republican colleagues won't continue to behave like sycophants and will start acting like a separate and coequal branch of government to serve as a check and balance on an out-of-control Secretary of Defense and an out-of-control executive branch.
CHRIS HAYES: Do you agree with those who have said if the facts as reported, and it seems to me now basically uncontested, about that second strike are true, it is a war crime?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Yeah, if the facts appear to be as has been presented, I think there's no doubt that it's a war crime. It's a violation of U.S. law and a violation of international law at the same time, and there have got to be serious consequences for all involved.
CHRIS HAYES: House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, thank you for your time tonight.
LEADER JEFFRIES: Thank you.
Full interview can be watched here.