Dallas, TX – Today, Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries appeared on This Week with Jon Karl, where he emphasized that Democrats will continue to push back against the far-right extremism that is being unleashed on the American people by the Trump administration and House Republicans. 

JON KARL: Leader Jeffries, thank you for joining us. I want to start with that extraordinary situation in New York. Before she resigned, the acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York sent the Attorney General a scathing letter accusing DOJ of engaging in a quid pro quo with Mayor Adams. Let me just read part of that letter. She wrote ‘rather than be rewarded, Adams’s advocacy should be called out for what it is: an improper offer of immigration enforcement assistance in exchange for a dismissal of his case. It is a breathtaking and dangerous precedent to reward Adams’s opportunistic and shifting commitments on immigration and other policy matters.’ How concerned are you that the Trump administration is trying to use the justice system to control the mayor of New York City?

LEADER JEFFRIES: I’m very concerned and the situation is very disturbing. Mayor Adams has a responsibility to convince the people of New York City that he will be able to continue to govern in a manner that puts their best interests first at all times, and that he is not simply taking orders from a Trump administration, a Department of Justice or Trump officials who do not have the best interests of the city of New York at heart.

JON KARL: Because this prosecution has been suspended, which means the Justice Department can renew the prosecution at any time if they don’t like what Adams is doing.

LEADER JEFFRIES: That’s correct. Listen, this Department of Justice is not promoting law and order, it’s promoting lawlessness and disorder. And that’s been consistent with what we’ve seen from the Trump administration from the very beginning, including but not limited to pardoning hundreds of violent felons who attacked and brutally beat police officers and then were released back into communities all across the country, threatening public safety. Many of these individuals who were pardoned, this was all facilitated, of course, by the Department of Justice, my Republican colleagues in the House have said nothing about this or, at worst, they continue to support what has occurred, this lawlessness and disorder. Many of these individuals who were pardoned, for instance, have extensive criminal records for things like domestic violence, weapons charges that are serious and rape. So this is not an administration that is committed to the safety of the American people. They continue to undermine it and flood the zone with chaos.

JON KARL: More broadly, we’re in four weeks in this second Trump administration. What of all that we’ve seen play out over these four weeks most concerns you?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, Donald Trump and Republicans consistently promised that they were going to lower the high cost of living. And they’ve done the exact opposite. They’ve shown no interest in lowering costs in the United States of America, which are too high. Housing costs are too high. Grocery costs are too high. Child care costs are too high. Utility costs are too high. The cost of living is too high in the United States of America. This country is too expensive. But they’ve broken their promise. They have no interest in improving the quality of life of hardworking American taxpayers. Instead, what they’re trying to do, while they distract the American people, is to jam the GOP tax scam down the throats of people all across this country, all in service of massive tax cuts for their billionaire donors and wealthy corporations. It’s a toxic Bait and Switch that is underway, and we will continue to push back forcefully.

JON KARL: Donald Trump’s favorability rating is actually higher than it ever was the first time around. Let me ask you, a recent poll by Marquette looked at several of the things that he has done or says that he is going to do, and 63% favor federal government’s recognition of only two sexes. 60% favor deporting immigrants who enter the United States illegally. 60% favor expanding oil and gas production. 59% favor declaring an emergency at the southern border. Is there anything you are seeing that Trump is doing that you are in favor of? That you think is the right thing?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Let me say, as it relates to all of those issues, we’re just at the beginning. And the core promise that Donald Trump made is that he’s going to lower costs for everyday Americans. In fact, we were told that grocery prices would go down on day one, on January 20. Costs aren’t lower, in fact, costs are increasing. The price of eggs is skyrocketing out of control. Inflation is on the way up. That was the core promise that’s been broken. With respect to immigration, we have to secure the border. We have a broken immigration system and we need to fix it in a comprehensive and bipartisan way. At the same period of time, as Democrats, we going to protect Dreamers, protect farmworkers and protect families who help our communities across the country thrive.

JON KARL: So, I’m sure you saw Speaker of the House Johnson say the Democratic Party has no leader right now. You might expect it from him to say something like that, but your colleague, Don Beyer, a big supporter of yours in the House, basically said the same thing. He said, ‘we’re still looking for that national spokesperson. And it could be that Hakeem,’ you, ‘becomes that national voice. It hasn’t happened yet.’ So are you effectively the leader of the Democratic Party nationally right now, the main spokesperson?

LEADER JEFFRIES: It’s my honor to be House Democratic Leader and we’re going to continue to work together in an all-hands-on-deck effort to push back against the far-right extremism that is being unleashed on this country with record velocity. We’ve got to fight in the courts push back in the Congress and continue to push back in the community. And as House Democrats were doing just that, particularly as it relates to their efforts to not only jam these massive tax cuts down the throats of the American people for the wealthy, well-off and well-connected, but they want to stick working-class Americans, middle-class Americans and everyday Americans with a bill by effectively ending health care as we know it—hurting children, hurting women, hurting people with disabilities, hurting older Americans, hurting everyday Americans by slashing and burning Medicaid to the ground, effectively trying to jam up the Affordable Care Act. And they’re going to target Social Security and Medicare. We’re pushing back forcefully against those efforts every day, every week, every month, every year, and that will continue.

JON KARL: Government funding runs out in less than a month now. We’ve seen over the past two years, Republicans cannot, or have not, been able to pass government funding without Democratic support. Some of your supporters on the outside are saying you should use as leverage the possibility of a government shutdown to push back at some of what the Trump administration is doing right now. What will you need from Mike Johnson and from the Republicans to agree to go along with efforts to fund the government?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Republicans have consistently shut down the government in the past, and it would be no surprise if they do just that this time around. There’s a Republican president, a Republican House and a Republican Senate. They have a responsibility to make sure that government remains open and can function. As Democrats, with respect to any spending agreement, our view, our test is whether that spending agreement meets the needs of the American people in terms of their health, their safety, our national security and, certainly, the economic well-being of everyday Americans. Rosa DeLauro is the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee. She’s in off-and-on conversations with her Republican colleagues in the House, as well as our Republican and Democratic colleagues in the Senate. We’ll see how that unfolds over the next few weeks. but we want to make sure that any agreement that is ultimately signed off on has to be one that meets the needs of the American people, and it has to be implemented fully in compliance with the law.

JON KARL: And just quickly before you go, have you had any conversations with the White House, have you talked to Chief of Staff Susie Wiles or the President about this?

LEADER JEFFRIES: I have not had any conversation with the White House. But I do expect that as we get closer and closer to March 14, that those conversations will perhaps intensify. And at the end of the day, what we have been clear about is that this budget that is working its way through the House of Representatives is a non-starter. Every single Democrat opposed it a few days ago in the Budget Committee. And I believe that that will continue to be our position because it’s out of control.

JON KARL: All right. Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, thank you very much.

Full interview can be watched here.