Washington, DC – Today, Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries spoke at a rally where he emphasized that while Republicans are focused on giving tax cuts to their billionaire donors and Elon Musk, Democrats are going to continue to defend Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security and stand up for everyday Americans.

LEADER JEFFRIES: Are you ready to put families over billionaires? Are you ready to stop the GOP Tax Scam dead in its tracks? Is SEIU in the house right now? What an honor and a privilege to be here with all of you as we stand in the midst of this righteous fight, just a few steps away from the Capitol where I work, a Capitol, of course, that has turned into a hostile work environment. Because half the people want to bury their heads in the sand. Act like they don’t know what their responsibilities are. They believe, some of these sycophants, they believe that they work for Donald Trump. Congress doesn’t work for Donald Trump, we work for the American people, and all of you.

And so we got a very different vision about what we need to do at this moment. We want to move the country forward, they want to turn back the clock. We’re fighting hard to bring people together, they want to tear us apart. We believe in an economy that works for everyday Americans. They want an economy of the billionaires, by the billionaires and for the billionaires. That’s what the GOP Tax Scam is all about. That’s why we’re going to stop the GOP Tax Scam dead in its tracks and put families over billionaires. We’ve got a vision of America, we believe that in this country, when you work hard and play by the rules, you should be able to live a comfortable life, provide for your families, educate your children, purchase a home, have access to high-quality health care, go on vacation every now and then and one day retire with grace and dignity, that’s the American dream, and we’re gonna fight hard to make sure we bring that dream to life for every single person in this country, and put families over billionaires.

Nobody told us that the road would be easy. And so we know we have trouble all around us. Trouble in the White House. Trouble with the Congress. Trouble the cabinet. And by the way, Pete Hegseth needs to resign or be fired immediately. Trouble in the cabinet and trouble with Elon Musk. Can I park right there for a moment? Elon Musk is unelected, unaccountable, unhinged, unpopular and un-American with his out-of-control behavior. And so he wants to, and the extreme MAGA Republicans, they want to take a chainsaw to Social Security, a chainsaw to Medicare, a chainsaw to Medicaid, a chainsaw to public schools, a chainsaw to veterans’ benefits, a chainsaw to the American way of life. But here’s the thing, we’ve got to show up, we got to stand up, we’ve got to speak up and when we do, we’re going to take a chainsaw to Project 2025. Families over billionaires.

Let me end with this observation. Earlier this month, several of us, many in this crowd, many Members of Congress had an opportunity to visit Selma for the 60th anniversary of Bloody Sunday. I also had the chance to stop by Montgomery, which was the start of the Civil Rights Movement. And when I was there, we thought about the courage and the conviction and the character of those civil rights heroes and foot soldiers. They had trouble all around them. The odds were stacked against them. But they knew that their cause was a righteous one and they were able to prevail. And that’s exactly what we’ve got to do right now because our cause, the cause of putting families over billionaires is a righteous one in the United States of America. And so when the Civil Rights Movement started early in 1956, shortly after the Montgomery Bus Boycott had started in December of the previous year, Dr. King was gathered at a church with thousands of people shortly after he had been arrested. They tried to intimidate them and bully them and stop the movement in its tracks. And Dr. King said to a gathering of folks that they’ve got to press on and keep pressing. And Dr. King said that if you can’t fly, run. If you can run, walk. If you walk, crawl. But at all times, press on, and keep pressing.

And here’s the thing, they want to intimidate us. They want to bully us. They want to threaten us. They’re trying to stop us. But our cause is a righteous one, and we’ve got to press on and keep pressing. Press on for our children, press on for our seniors, press on for our veterans, press on for our unions, press on for our Dreamers, press on for working families, press on for the middle class, press on for poor, press on for sick, press on for the afflicted, press on for least, press on for lost, press on for left behind, press on for voting rights, press on for civil rights, press on for economic justice, press on for social justice, press on racial justice, press on for families, press on for freedom, press on for our future, press on for democracy. We’re going to press on until victory is won. Families over billionaires.

Full rally can be watched here.

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