Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries appeared on MSNBC’s The Briefing with Jen Psaki and CNN’s NewsNight with Abby Phillip to emphasize that Democrats are fighting to protect the healthcare of the American people in the face of a reckless Republican government shutdown.

LEADER JEFFRIES ON MSNBC’S THE BRIEFING WITH JEN PSAKI:

JEN PSAKI: It’s great to see you, Leader Jeffries. You’ve had quite a 48 hours, I will say. We are less than three hours away from this shutdown. And I just want to start by asking you, I mean, you said today we’re in this fight until we win. I think a lot of people are happy to hear that. Tell us more about what that looks like. How does this end for people?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, we’re here in the Capitol. And as Leader Schumer has said, as I’ve repeatedly said, as House Democrats continue to say, you know, we are ready, we’re willing, we’re able to sit down with anyone, any time, any place to arrive at a bipartisan spending agreement that actually meets the needs of the American people, avoids a shutdown and keeps the government open. But at the same period of time, what we also have made clear is that we’re not going to support a partisan Republican spending bill that continues to gut the healthcare of the American people in the midst of a Republican healthcare crisis that is devastating to people all across the country. Republicans, as you pointed out, control the House, the Senate and the presidency. They have the ability to fund the government, but to the extent that they’re interested in Democratic support, then, of course, we want to make sure, as part of a bipartisan process, that we are looking out for the American people in rural America, in urban America, in small town America, in the heartland of America and in Black and brown communities all across America, collectively, all of whom have been devastated in different ways by the ongoing Republican assault on healthcare.

JEN PSAKI: I just played a clip, and I think everybody watching knows you and Leader Schumer went to the White House yesterday. I played a clip of that, but I want to play something that Trump said today, because I think it’s important to show people how difficult this is. So let’s just play that. We’ll talk about it afterwards.

VIDEO OF PRESIDENT TRUMP: A lot of good can come down from shutdowns. We can get rid of a lot of things that we didn’t want, and they’d be Democrat things.

JEN PSAKI: I mean, I suppose he sometimes says the quiet part out loud, but he seemed to say—he says there, ‘A lot of good things can come from shutdowns.’ What do you think he means by that, and what are you preparing for him to do during this shutdown?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, it’s such a shocking statement that he would make because he’s the President of the United States of America, and we shouldn’t look at the consequences of a shutdown as impacting Democrats or impacting Republicans. It impacts Americans. Food safety, of course, will be impacted. Airline and aviation safety impacted. That affects everyone. And millions of older Americans who have come to rely on telemedicine won’t have the ability to access that level of medical care. That impacts everyone. And this is on top of the consequences of the One Big Ugly Bill, which included the largest assault, the largest cut to Medicaid in American history, and in this bill, they stole food from the mouths of hungry children, families, seniors and veterans, Democrats and Republicans alike. And all of that was done so they could reward their billionaire donors with massive tax breaks. And they basically want to continue this scheme, but they want to do it with Democratic support. And that, of course, is a bridge way too far. That’s not going to happen. So we’re urging reasonable Republicans to come to the table. I’ll be at the Capitol all night. Let’s have a conversation about finding a common-sense path forward to meet the needs of all Americans, as opposed to continuing to devastate everyday Americans.

JEN PSAKI: So it seems that, I mean, part of the challenge here for you—or you tell me—seems to be Trump is controlling a huge swath of the caucus, including the Speaker of the House, who seems to do whatever he wants. You’re saying, ‘Hey, Republicans, come meet with me. I’m happy to talk to you about a path forward here.’ You said you want a bipartisan deal. Is Trump—do you go meet with him if he wants to meet again? Or what does it look like tomorrow? How do you move forward?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, in the White House meeting yesterday, I certainly made clear, and so did Leader Schumer, that we demanded the meeting with Donald Trump because, at the end of the day, Republicans no longer function in the Congress as a separate and coequal branch of government. And the reality is, when Donald Trump says jump, the Republicans say how high. And they’ve served as nothing more than a reckless rubber stamp for Donald Trump’s extreme agenda throughout the year. So the reality is Donald Trump’s gonna shut the government down. Republicans are going to acquiesce to that, which is why House Republicans aren’t even in town, if you can believe it. House Democrats are here on duty. Republicans remain on vacation. And so this is gonna have to come down to, eventually, the Trump administration recognizing that their own shutdown is going to be a consequence that will hurt them with the American people, who are smart enough to know it’s being caused by Donald Trump and the Republicans, come to the table so we can work something out that also includes protecting the healthcare of the American people.

JEN PSAKI: Do you think Trump even wants the government to reopen?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, that remains to be seen. We’ll certainly begin to find that out after midnight. We also know that since January 20, Donald Trump has been waging war against the federal government, against hardworking federal employees and civil servants and decimating parts of the government, which impacts the ability to provide necessary services to everyday Americans. And that’s been happening over the last several months pretty much from the beginning of his administration, which is why I think many people have reasonably come to believe that from the very beginning of this process, Donald Trump and Republicans have been determined to try to shut the government down. But the American people are going to rise up and not tolerate it. This has happened in the past. We know that during the 14-day government shutdown that was caused by Republicans in October of 2013, eventually their will broke because the American people said enough. And when Donald Trump was in office in 2018 into 2019, that was the longest government shutdown in American history, 35 days. And eventually, the Republicans engaged in an unconditional surrender because they could not sustain the pressure from the American people. It’s my expectation that if we find ourselves in a shutdown, the same exact thing will happen again.

JEN PSAKI: We’ve been through—there’s been, you’ve been through, I’ve been through a lot of shutdowns and negotiations. Often they’re on the level, as my mother would say. This does not appear to be in part because Trump is continuing to post racist and bizarre AI videos. There was one of you and Leader Schumer last night. I’m not gonna play that. But just in the last hour, he posted another one of you. Today, you said, which is a pretty strong comeback, ‘The next time you have something to say about me, don’t cop out through a racist and fake AI video. When I’m back in the Oval Office, say it to my face.’ It’s the pushing back that I think is very powerful in this moment. I got to ask, I mean, when you’re back in the Oval Office—you may be—what are you going to say to his face about all this?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, I’m certainly gonna make it clear that we need from the President of the United States an individual who actually is focused on doing his job, as opposed to engaging in racist or bigoted stereotypes designed to try to distract or throw us off as Democrats from what we need to do on behalf of the American people. And it ain’t gonna happen. And we’re not gonna be intimidated by this guy or by the Republicans who currently are divorced from the reality of the situation that, as Democrats, we don’t work for Donald Trump. We don’t work for Vice President Vance. We don’t work for their billionaire donors. We work for the American people. That’s why we’ve drawn this line in the sand. And our view will continue to be cancel the cuts, lower the cost, save healthcare.

JEN PSAKI: Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, we’ll just repeat before I let you go. This is about Republicans being unwilling to fund subsidies that help millions of people stay in healthcare. That is what the holdup is. I appreciate you joining me tonight. Thank you so much.

LEADER JEFFRIES: Thank you.

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LEADER JEFFRIES ON CNN’S NEWSNIGHT WITH ABBY PHILLIP:

ABBY PHILLIP: We’ll get to our debate in just a moment. But first, joining me now is House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Leader Jeffries, thank you very much for being here. I just wanna get your response to that video, which the White House has been putting out and played in the briefing room today. Are Democrats being hypocritical here now on the verge of a shutdown?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Not at all. Republicans control the House, the Senate and the presidency. And we’ve indicated that we will sit down with anyone, any time, any place, to try to find a path forward in terms of reaching a bipartisan spending agreement that avoids a government shutdown, meets the needs of the American people and deals with the painful Republican healthcare crisis that is devastating people all across America. Republicans have basically demonstrated zero interest in trying to work out any differences from a policy perspective that we may have, because at the end of the day, they want to shut the government down as they’ve done repeatedly over the last several decades.

ABBY PHILLIP: Well, let me ask you about that, because House Speaker Mike Johnson, your colleague on the other side of the aisle, he just spoke with Kaitlan Collins, and he says that really what they’re asking for is time. Listen.

VIDEO OF SPEAKER JOHNSON: Chuck Schumer has made the decision unilaterally—he’s the leader of the Democrats in the Senate—to keep the government shut down for his own personal reasons. It is extremely selfish. We didn’t put partisan provisions in the CR. We could have. I could have loaded that up with all of our partisan policy preferences, but I didn’t, because we’re operating in good faith. The reason we need, again, just the short-term extension to November 21, is to allow the appropriators to do their job. They need more time to do it, in a bipartisan fashion, by the way. They agreed—Republicans and Democrats agreed November 21 would be the appropriate day to extend it. That’s all we’re asking for is time.

ABBY PHILLIP: So I want to get your reaction to that, but also, I mean, from your perspective, have you heard any concrete assurances from Speaker Johnson that your policy concerns might be addressed if they are given more time?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Not at all. And what we’ve seen with respect to Republicans over the last 15 years is a consistent effort to try to blow up the Affordable Care Act and hurt millions of Americans who rely upon that enlightened piece of legislation in order to provide healthcare for themselves and for their families. Over the next few days, more than 20 million Americans are gonna experience notices that will indicate that their premiums, co-pays and deductibles are about to skyrocket, in some instances, by thousands of dollars a year. People are gonna face medical bankruptcy. People will be unable to provide healthcare for themselves and for their families. And all of this is on top of the fact that Republicans passed their One Big Ugly Bill, which is now law, including the largest cut to Medicaid in American history, hospitals, nursing homes and community-based health clinics all across America are closing, and they’re triggering a possible $536 billion cut to Medicare at the end of the year because of that One Big Ugly Bill, if Congress does not act.

ABBY PHILLIP: So, what is—

LEADER JEFFRIES: This is an extraordinary assault on the healthcare of the American people—

ABBY PHILLIP: What is the exit strategy here, though?

LEADER JEFFRIES: —and we’re simply saying this has to be dealt with and dealt with now.

ABBY PHILLIP: Yeah, but what is the exit strategy here from a shutdown? Because once the government is shut down, which it will be in two hours, how do you get out of this? There’s one Democrat who told CNN there is no way to play this shutdown game and win, and Democrats know that because Republicans for the last several shutdowns have been the ones playing this game. So, how are you gonna get out of it if we are in a shutdown?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Again, correct me if I’m wrong in terms of the Republican perspective, but Republicans have been lecturing America all year that they control the government and that they’re jamming their policy preferences down the throats of the American people. So how is it the case that at this particular moment in time, they’re suddenly at the mercy of Democrats who are in the minority in the House or in the Senate when Donald Trump has consistently behaving like he’s all-powerful, including in the things that he continues to try to do today with respect to the US military. All we’re saying is that we need to have a conversation in good faith that’s authentic, sitting down with legislative leaders on the other side of the aisle in the White House to both fund the government in a way that meets the needs of the American people, but at the same time, doesn’t continue this effort by Republicans to gut the healthcare of everyday Americans, particularly given the fact that the Affordable Care Act tax credits, which benefit millions of working-class Americans, are about to expire, and Republicans have shown no interest in dealing with that critically important issue.

ABBY PHILLIP: Are you worried that a shutdown could supercharge Trump’s efforts to gut the federal government even further, and then, on top of that, stack the federal government with Trump’s people to pursue whatever partisan agenda that they might have? I mean, is there a risk that this could all backfire?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Donald Trump has been gutting the federal government since January 20 in ways that are only going to be restrained by the courts, and there’s nothing that he can do in this particular instance that would be consistent with the law. And he will be held back by the courts at the appropriate time if he takes this aggressive action, which violates the law. But more importantly, public sentiment is going to be what ultimately leads the Republicans to get back to the negotiating table. We saw that during the shutdown in 2013, 14-day government shutdown, and eventually the Republicans concluded that public sentiment was not with them, and they engaged in an unconditional surrender. And during the shutdown in 2018 into 2019, when Donald Trump was the President and it began in the same way, Republicans controlled the House and the Senate. It lasted for 35 days. At the end of that process, the longest government shutdown in American history, the Republicans realized they couldn’t sustain their position any longer, they engaged in an unconditional surrender and the government was opened back up. Hopefully, this time around, it will only be a matter of hours or days.

ABBY PHILLIP: Yeah, I think that the difference—the difference though, Leader Jeffries, between those incidents and this one is that Democrats in those times were the ones saying, ‘Let’s just fund the government. Let’s not negotiate in this moment.’ Now the shoe is on the other foot. You acknowledge that, right?

LEADER JEFFRIES: No, actually, we’re saying, ‘Let’s fund the government. Let’s sit down and have a conversation.’ Republicans have adopted a my-way-or-the-highway approach. They basically have said take it or leave it with respect to our partisan Republican spending bill that continues cuts that were first put into place in March of this year that hurt veterans, hurt children and families, hurt child care, hurt housing affordability and hurt the healthcare of the American people. And they’re suggesting now that continuing that funding level is something that we should just accept and allow it to be jammed down the throats of the American people.

ABBY PHILLIP: Let’s talk about—

LEADER JEFFRIES: —when we voted against it in March, because it hurt the American people.

ABBY PHILLIP: Let’s talk about, though, who you’re negotiating with because I think this is super important. I mean, you want to get to the table with the Republicans and perhaps the President, but I’m sure—you may have seen this. I mean, President Trump just moments ago posted pictures from your meeting in the Oval Office, where he, I guess, apparently tried to hand you Trump 2028 hats. Then he posted another video, an AI video of you in a sombrero once again. This time, he’s in the background—you see, the audience can see it there—as a mariachi band. I mean, I think the question I have for you is, do you think that this is even a White House, a President that cares to negotiate in good faith at all? Because it sounds like this meeting that you had this week has only resulted in trolling and not in any serious conversations.

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, that’s exactly the point. He’s an unserious individual. The Republicans are unserious at this point. They have no interest in having a good-faith conversation. And all of the behavior, erratic, unhinged behavior that we’ve seen subsequent to that White House meeting should suggest to the American people who actually is trying to drive us toward a government shutdown. We continue to say we’re willing to have a bipartisan discussion to arrive at a spending agreement that meets the needs of the American people in terms of their health, public safety and economic well-being, particularly as it relates to driving down the high cost of living, not allowing millions of Americans to experience dramatically increased healthcare premiums, co-pays and deductibles. That’s a reasonable position in defense of the quality of life of the American people. We just don’t have serious negotiating partners right now on the other side of the aisle because they’re engaging in this erratic behavior, posting racist, fake AI videos. And it speaks for itself in terms of the American people concluding who’s serious and who’s deadly unserious.

ABBY PHILLIP: When he tried to hand you that Trump 2028 hat, what was your reaction?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, actually, he did not try to hand Leader Schumer and I the Trump 2028 hat. They just randomly appeared in the middle of the meeting on the desk. It was the strangest thing ever. And I just looked at the hat, looked at JD Vance, who was seated to my left, and said, ‘Don’t you got a problem with this?’ And he said, ‘No comment.’ And that was the end of it.

ABBY PHILLIP: All right, Leader Jeffries, thank you very much for joining us.

Full MSNBC interview can be watched here and full CNN interview can be watched here.

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