State of the Union: Interview With Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY)

Interview

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Well, good morning. It's great to be with you.

Listen, House Democrats are unified, President Biden was dignified, and our base is electrified, for three reasons. One, we have an incredible track record of support for getting big things done to make life better for everyday Americans.

We have a vision for the future. We're going to continue to put people over politics, to fight for lower costs and better-paying jobs and safer communities, defend democracy, fight for reproductive freedom, and build an economy from the middle out and the ground up, as opposed to the top down, which is what Republicans have tried to do for decades.

And we can present a clear contrast with the extreme MAGA Republicans, who are out of touch and out of control.

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Not at all. We have a House, we have a Senate, and then we have the White House.

In terms of my particular reasons for voting the way that I did, one, I believe that local government should have control over local matters. And that's a principle that I have supported from the moment that I arrived in Washington, D.C. It's one of the reasons why I believe in D.C. statehood.

And, in this particular case, I voted to affirm local rule.

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Well, let's take it one step at a time. We have to see what happens in the United States Senate next week.

Depending on what the Senate does, the president will have to respond one way or the other. I haven't had an opportunity to talk to the White House yet about the president's views, so I'm not going to characterize his position one way or the other, until we have had a chance to talk about that issue.

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Well, there are public conversations and there are private conversations.

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And I haven't had an opportunity to have a private conversation.

What I do know is that Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton has look forward to talk about President Biden about his decision. They may agree to disagree. And, at the end of the day, that's fine, because, on the big picture issues in fighting to build an economy that really does work for everyday Americans, we will remain unified, particularly as compared to the extremism that we're seeing on the other side of the aisle.

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Well, that actually has not been the sense that I have gotten.

I think coming out of the issues conference, we are incredibly unified about the way forward. When we talk about putting people over politics, that is not just a slogan. It's a way of life for us. It's what we have done. It's the reason why we were able to pass historic legislation to save the economy, to invest in infrastructure, to bring manufacturing and jobs back to the country...

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... to do something on the climate and the environment and prescription drug prices.

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Well, I don't want to characterize what President Biden may or may not do in response to something.

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Well, in response to something that the Senate has not even done yet.

What I can say is that I will continue to support the principle of local government control over local matters. There are more than 700,000 people in the District of Columbia. They elect the city council, they elect a mayor. They can continue to work out those issues.

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No, actually, I think we have a strong record on the issue. We have passed gun safety legislation, over the objection of the NRA, for the first time that will save lives.

We have to do more. We certainly have a vision for doing more, for banning weapons of war on our streets, for enacting universal criminal background check legislation, for investing in dealing with mental illness, as our gun safety legislation will do to the tune of $500 million.

And so I think that we can lean into this issue moving forward, based on substance.

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Well, I think we have got to continue to do two things, one, make sure that we have a safe and secure border and take steps anchored in the principle that America is a nation of laws, while, at the same time, respecting the fact that we also are a nation of immigrants, and that part of the foundation of this country has been built on our tremendous diversity, on people coming from all over the world to work hard and pursue the American dream.

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Well, actually, based on my visit to the border, what I have seen is that some of the steps that President Biden and the administration have taken over the last few months have certainly reduced the flow of illegal border crossings.

And, also, those who are seeking asylum now have the ability in a handful of countries, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba, and Haiti, I believe, to sort of pursue those asylum claims while remaining in place or in a transit country.

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It's not clear to me yet that any material footage that any news personality at another network may have has been vetted, but it must be vetted before anything is released into the public domain.

The January 6 insurrection was violent. Approximately 140 officers were seriously injured. A handful of officers died as a result of the events of the January 6 violent insurrection. There are serious security concerns with releasing footage into the public domain in an era where political violence is on the rise, and there are people, including the former president, who fan the flames of extremism.

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I have no indication at this moment that the police have vetted that footage. It is my hope and expectation that that will absolutely occur.

But, Dana, here's the more important issue. President Biden won the election. People on the extreme right know that President Biden won the election. But Donald Trump perpetrated a big lie. That big lie had real consequences. It led to and incited a violent insurrection. And it's that type of political extremism that we need to move beyond in America.

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No, what I think should happen right now is that everyone, whether it's on another network or whether it's just in the public domain, certainly in Congress, should refrain from perpetrating a big lie, because the big lie has consequences.

And democracy is held together by some basic principles, such as free and fair elections and the peaceful transfer of power. Those things were undermined and continue to be undermined by individuals, extreme MAGA Republicans, who continue to perpetrate the big lie. And it has to stop.

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Thank you. Great to be here with you.

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