LEADER JEFFRIES ON MSNBC: "THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT IS PART OF AN INCREDIBLE TRACK RECORD OF SUCCESS LED BY PRESIDENT BIDEN"
Brooklyn, NY – In case you missed it, Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries appeared on The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell where he highlighted the success of the Inflation Reduction Act and emphasized that House Democrats are focused on growing the middle class.
O'DONNELL: Thank you very much for joining us tonight, Mr. Leader. It has been one very fast year since that legislation was passed. What has it accomplished so far?
JEFFRIES: Great to be with you, Lawrence. The Inflation Reduction Act is part of an incredible track record of legislative accomplishments and success led by President Biden that will continue to make life better for everyday Americans all throughout the land. Now, the Inflation Reduction Act struck a dramatic blow against the climate crisis, sets our planet on a sustainable trajectory forward, lowers energy costs, will stand up a clean energy economy, create over a million good-paying jobs over the next decade, strengthens the Affordable Care Act, will lower health care costs and will continue to drive down the high price of life-saving prescription drugs for millions of Americans, including taking the price of insulin, which for many American families costs approximately thousands of dollars a year and now, because of the Inflation Reduction Act, is $35 a month.
O'DONNELL: And going forward, Joe Biden does seem to be struggling with perception here in being able to convince voters that any of those things have actually been accomplished. Which is to say, I mean, the voter that's up for grabs is that voter who doesn't pay close attention to this kind of governing and to the kind of coverage of this kind of governing. And so is there any strategy that is actually workable to reach the voter, the kind of voter who doesn't actually want to be reached? They they they– don't they actively– it's like it's like trying to make me watch golf. They actually don't want to consume this information.
JEFFRIES: Well, the closer that we get to the election the more that voters all across the country will begin to pay attention. But Members of the House Democratic Caucus during this August district work period, spread out all across the country, have been doing events in communities, in the neighborhoods that we are privileged to represent, to highlight the progress that we have made on their behalf in a variety of different areas, whether that's standing up for our veterans through the PACT Act, passing the CHIPS and Science Act, which will bring domestic manufacturing jobs back home to the United States of America, of course, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which will create millions of good-paying jobs, help to fix our crumbling bridges, roads, tunnels, our airports, sewer and water systems, our mass transportation systems and ensure clean water in every single community. We also, of course, under the leadership of President Biden, passed the Safer Communities Act, gun safety legislation for the first time in 30 years. More needs to be done to stop the carnage on our streets, in our communities, in our classrooms, but under the leadership of President Biden, we've made progress in this area. I think thematically, we're going to continue to point out that Democrats are working to build an economy from the middle out and the bottom up. Extreme MAGA Republicans, on the other hand, believe in an economy built from the top down that benefits the wealthy, the well-off and the well-connected. We're fighting for middle class folks, for working families, for all those who aspire to be part of the middle class, for older Americans, for young people in terms of bringing to life the American dream. That comparison of our track record, where they have a nominee who's left behind a track record, a trail of criminal indictments, as opposed to what Joe Biden has done, continuing to put People Over Politics, I think is going to withstand the test of time and appeal to a clear majority of the American people.
O'DONNELL: Democrats in the House will be, as will Democrats in the Senate, will be running against a party, a Republican Party, that will be spending a tremendous amount of the campaign defending an indicted former president. That will be an essential component of Republican campaigns is how strongly the candidate defends an indicted former president. Should it be part of Democratic campaigns? Should the Democrats be campaigning on the issue of the corruption of the former president?
JEFFRIES: Well, I think that we're going to campaign not just on our track record of accomplishments, because we're not simply trying to say to the American people, reward us, but we will be able to articulate a whole host of accomplishments to say to the American people, trust us. We mean what we say, we say what we mean in terms of our efforts to put People Over Politics. But more importantly, we'll articulate a vision for the future. Campaigns are, at the end of the day about the future and our efforts to really grow the middle class, to make life better for everyday Americans, to bring the American dream to life in urban America and rural America and suburban America and small town America in Appalachia and the heartland of America. At the same time, we'll have this criminal process play itself out. It's my expectation that the prosecutors will continue to follow the facts, apply the law, be guided by the Constitution, present, in their view, the strongest possible case to the juries and to the American people. And we'll see where that lands.
O'DONNELL: House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, thank you very much for joining us tonight.
Full press interview can be watched here.