House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) chastised “extreme MAGA Republicans,” called President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address “eloquent” and praised former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi as “the greatest speaker of all time in the United States of America” during his weekly press conference on Feb. 9.
It was Jeffries’ first press conference since Biden’s State of the Union speech on Feb. 7, and the House Minority Leader echoed the president’s messaging.
“Democrats have been getting big things done on the issues of importance to everyday Americans, creating more than 12 million jobs and President Biden’s first two years in office, reducing the deficit by $1.7 trillion, lowering costs supercharging the economy when it was on the brink of a recession and moving in the right direction,” Jeffries said.
“President Biden eloquently, strongly, and thoughtfully articulated” his remarks “in the face of very disrespectful, unbecoming behavior on the other side of the aisle,” Jeffries added, referencing the protests, boos, and jeers from Republicans at several points in the address.
Jeffries added that “we look forward to partnering with President Biden in the work ahead implementing the tremendous pieces of legislation that were passed into law.” He said that House Democrats will defend Social Security, Medicare, democracy, and “a woman’s freedom to make their own reproductive health care decisions.”
He and his colleagues will also push back “against the extreme MAGA Republican agenda, which is totally out of control,” Jeffries said.
Jeffries used the terms “MAGA Republicans,” extreme MAGA Republicans,” and “right-wing extremism” more than a dozen times in the press conference.
The debt ceiling was a contentious topic in Biden’s State of the Union address, and Jeffries added his comments on Feb. 9.
“We have said that the United States has a responsibility to pay the debts that have already been incurred,” Jeffries said, adding that “we have to meet our obligations.”
“It’s not clear to me that the extreme MAGA Republicans are prepared to do that,” he continued.
Once Republicans present their plan, Jeffries said, “the American people can evaluate it, Congress can evaluate it, House Democrats can evaluate it.”
During the State of the Union, Biden drew the ire of many Republicans when he said, “some of my Republican friends want to take the economy hostage unless I agree to their economic plans. All of you at home should know what their plans are. Instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share, some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset every five years.”
Seated behind Biden, Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) shook his head “no” and some Republicans in the chamber called Biden a “liar” and insisted they “never said that.”
Jeffries described that conduct as “petulant.”
“As far as I’m concerned, the behavior of the extreme MAGA Republicans speaks for itself,” Jeffries said. “I’m confident the overwhelming majority of the American people found that petulant behavior to be distasteful.”
When a reporter asked about Pelosi, whose time as Speaker of the House ended when Republicans gained control of the chamber in January, Jeffries said “it is so wonderful for me to be able to consistently talk to Speaker Pelosi, and lean on her for her advice.”
He lauded her experience “as the greatest speaker of all time in the United States of America. The factual and historic record, in my view, makes that indisputable.”
The Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government gathered for its first hearing on Feb. 9.
Jeffries called the panel “an extreme MAGA Republican subcommittee to obstruct justice” and said it will be “focused on peddling conspiracy theories.”
Chaired by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), the subcommittee is tasked with exploring how the executive branch collects information on and investigates U.S. citizens.
Probing will include ongoing criminal investigations, and the committee will likely look into the FBI’s search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in August.
In his opening statement during the first hearing, Jordan said the panel will investigate concerns Americans have about the Justice Department, the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, the IRS, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, along with big tech companies’ moves to “suppress information and censor Americans.”
Jeffries criticized House Republicans for focusing on issues “that have nothing to do with making life better for everyday Americans.”
“They'd rather go investigate President Biden’s family and laptops than address the issues of concern that affect the middle class, those who aspire to be part of the middle class and everyday Americans,” he said.
