Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), recently appointed leader of House Democrats, said it is unfortunate Republicans are focusing on comments he made relating to the 2016 election as they enter the majority in the House.
Republicans began pointing to Jeffries’s comments denying the legitimacy of former President Donald Trump’s 2016 win moments after he was elected to replace Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) as the Democrats’ leader.
“The more we learn about the 2016 election the more ILLEGITIMATE it becomes,” Jeffries tweeted in 2018. “America deserves to know whether we have a FAKE president in the oval office.”
Republicans have perceived Jeffries’s election to leadership as hypocrisy from the Democrats, who have been vocal that Republicans who deny the 2020 election results should not hold leadership positions.
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“Hakeem Jeffries called the 2016 election ILLEGITIMATE. Why are Democrats electing an ELECTION DENIER to lead their party?” Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX) tweeted Wednesday. “Where is the media outrage labeling Jeffries a THREAT to Democracy?”
In an interview on ABC News’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos, Jeffries said the reactions from Republicans fit right in with the GOP’s agenda.
“Here’s the Republican playbook: Facts don’t matter, hypocrisy is not a constraint to their behavior, and in many cases, they believe shamelessness is a superpower,” Jeffries said.
He said it is unfortunate the Republicans are focusing on him, whereas the House Democrats are going to “focus on solving problems for the American people.”
Jeffries said his view of the situation is “pretty clear,” pointing to his attendance at the certification of Trump’s election and inauguration, “even though there were many constituents and others across the country pushing me and others to do otherwise.”
“That track record speaks for itself,” Jeffries said. “At the same time, I will never hesitate in criticizing the former president. I think I’m in good company there throughout the world.”
Jeffries added that Republicans need to “work out their issues” with Trump and decide whether the party will break from him or “continue to lean into the extremism, not just of Trump but of Trumpism.”
He referenced Trump’s post on Truth Social, the social media platform he joined after he was banned from Twitter. In the latest of Trump’s posts laced with false statements and accusations, Trump called for the termination of “all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution.”
“Suspending the Constitution is an extraordinary step, but we’re used to extraordinary statements being made by the former president,” Jeffries said of the post.
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Jeffries said his mission as House Democratic leader is to work with Republicans wherever possible if they can stop going down the “rabbit hole” of “unnecessary, unconscionable, unacceptable investigations of the administration.”
“The question on the other side of the aisle is what will Republicans do? Are they going to double and triple down on the extremism that we’ve seen from people like [Georgia GOP Rep.] Marjorie Taylor Greene?” Jeffries said. “That would be unfortunate. … There is an opportunity for common ground.”
