EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Top Dem Hakeem Jeffries Says "We Have to Take Accountability"
“We fell short,” the House Democratic leader tells John Harwood.
Democratic Congressman Hakeem Jeffries had hoped the 2024 election would make him speaker of the House of Representatives.
Anticipating victory, he wrote a new illustrated book, The ABCs of Democracy, which published on Tuesday. In it, Jeffries frames simply, for young readers, the virtues his party offers: American values over autocracy, benevolence over bigotry, and so on.
But Jeffries' political adversaries, led by President-elect Donald Trump, won a clear victory last week as the electorate shifted in their direction.
As more than a dozen House races remain undecided, there's still an outside chance Jeffries could become speaker. But the Brooklyn Democrat will most likely lead a Democratic minority in a reshaped Washington featuring Republican control of the House, Senate, and White House, as well as the Supreme Court.
For ‘The Stakes’ this week, I spoke to Jeffries about why American voters did not embrace his party's message – including urgent warnings that Trump poses a danger to democracy itself.
He discussed wokeness, abortion rights, and the economy, as well as his worries about the incoming Trump administration, where Democrats can work with Republicans, and how his party can win back power in 2026 and beyond.
How would you explain to school kids what happened in last week’s election?
JEFFRIES: The ABCs of Democracy is an illustrated book for people of all ages. but I’m hopeful it will be particularly useful to millennials and younger Americans in terms of understanding the American values that have made our country [the] greatest democracy in the history of the world, the greatest middle class – bedrocks of our journey for 248 years. Now in the context of that journey, there are trials and tribulations. There’s turbulence along the way.
One of the pages in the book has a line: “democracy over demagoguery.” We had a safe, freely conducted, fair election last week. Was that a vindication of democracy over demagoguery?
JEFFRIES: Fundamental to our democracy is the notion that we accept the results. Many Americans will be bitterly disappointed. We should accept them and be prepared to continue to battle it out in the arena of ideas.
Other pages in the book include "understanding over ugliness," "benevolence over bigotry," "American values over autocracy." Are you confident that your conception of American values are the values that most Americans share?
JEFFRIES: As Democrats, we approach a moment of great introspection. What appears to me to have occurred is that a significant number of Americans, including many Americans of color, voted [for] what they believed to be their pocketbook interests. We need to do better for those Americans.
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris made the argument that democracy was on the line. What are you looking for as you evaluate whether democracy is being eroded?
JEFFRIES: The burden is now going to fall on the Trump administration to make sure that respecting the norms and institutions that have made America the greatest democracy in the history of the world will continue. Dialing down the rhetoric, the attacks on individuals, the negativity. As House Democrats, we’re certainly committed to working with the administration to get things done for everyday Americans, particularly in the area of lowering costs, while at the same time being the principled opposition in pushing back against extremism.
President-elect Trump has said he intends big tax cuts, big across-the-board tariffs, mass deportations, the pursuit of political enemies, and ending the Department of Education. What worries you the most?
JEFFRIES: We can’t go down this road again of tax cuts for the wealthy, the well-off, the well-connected, and everyday Americans are left behind. We have to solve the affordable housing crisis, including [by] enhancing the low-income housing tax credit. We need to re-enact and enhance the child tax credit that will put hundreds of dollars in the pockets of low-income families, working families, and middle-class families. That’s a change we think we can find common ground on.
What role do you see for the budget deficit in this discussion?
JEFFRIES: As Democrats, we shouldn’t shy away from the debate around the deficit. Democrats have done more to reduce the deficit over the last several decades than our colleagues on the other side of the aisle. We have the high ground.
Tom Homan, who has been designated by President-elect Trump to superintend the mass deportations, said we may have to double the number of ICE agents in New York City. A Trump legal adviser said that Letitia James, the attorney general of New York, may be looking at jail time. What do you think about those, and what can you do about it?
JEFFRIES: Attacks on individuals that seemingly fall outside the boundaries of the law are unacceptable. Citizens of this country should follow the law. Of course, we’ve got to fix our broken immigration system, and secure the border, and have a humane border consistent with the premise that America is anchored in the rule of law. We also need to make sure that the Trump administration follows the law.
Do you think under the Constitution that President-elect Trump will be able to carry out mass deportations on the scale that he’s talked about?
JEFFRIES: We plan to closely scrutinize that. These are not well-thought-out plans. They will be rejected by the American people if they are executed in a manner that breaks up families, that puts children in cages, that deports American citizens, which would be outrageous if anyone even attempts to go down that lane.
As we record this, there’s still a chance that you will end up as speaker in the next Congress. Very much a long shot. Let’s assume you’re not the speaker. What power will you have?
JEFFRIES: We’ll see ultimately where we land. Either Republicans will have a narrow majority, or Democrats will have a narrow majority. What we’ve seen in this Congress is chaos, dysfunction, and extremism. No one can point to a single thing the extreme MAGA Republicans in the majority were able to do on their own to make life better for the American people.
In this expiring Congress, they have needed your side to get almost anything done. In the new Congress, there are going to be many more Democrats elected from Trump districts than Republicans elected from Harris districts. Where does your leverage come from?
JEFFRIES: We have consistently governed as if we were in the majority, and there’s no reason to believe that’s going to change. We’re going to work with the Trump administration when we can, but strongly disagree with them when we must – always being driven by, are we going to make a difference in the lives of the American people. If we are, let’s find the bipartisan common ground.
Are you expecting a lot of procedural hardball?
JEFFRIES: They’re going to use every lever available to them. Republicans in the House and Senate are going to be in lockstep. They’ve been in lockstep for the last eight years.
Before President-elect Trump takes office, you’ve had people suggest that Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor step down so Democrats could confirm a younger justice, even that President Biden step down to let Vice President Harris break that glass ceiling. Do you support either of those ideas?
JEFFRIES: The most important thing the Biden administration and Democrats in Congress can do at this moment is to unclog judicial appointments. If we want a fair and impartial justice system that’s balanced, then we’ve got to have President Biden’s appointees confirmed as expeditiously as possible. Put enlightened judicial nominees on the federal court all the way through to Jan. 20 at noon.
Some have argued that Vice President Harris lost because she’s a Black woman. Others say, ‘Forget talk like that – Democrats have indulged too much in what they call identity politics.’ What’s your view?
JEFFRIES: It seems the most decisive issue [is] the view amongst many American voters that their economic circumstances had adversely changed as a result of inflationary pressure, gas prices, grocery prices. Many of these are communities of color. We have to take a step back and allow for the introspection that’s necessary. It’s got to be candid and clear-eyed, and we’ve all got to take accountability for the fact that we fell short.
Do you think the cultural issues that fall under the rubric of “woke” played a large role?
JEFFRIES: The migrant issue and the challenges at the border will likely prove to be the most decisive of the so-called cultural issues. The attacks on reproductive freedom are still very relevant and probably played a significant role.
Not as powerful as a lot of people expected.
JEFFRIES: It was a powerful driver, I think, in many of the Congressional races. There’s a long list of people who defied political gravity in the House and in the Senate, and getting their perspective is going to be incredibly important.
Is there one lesson that you would emphasize for Democrats that your party needs to do differently to appeal to a broader cross-section of America?
JEFFRIES: We want to improve the quality of life for everyday Americans who are struggling to live paycheck to paycheck. We’ve done a lot under the Biden administration to try to revive the American middle-class dream, and be there for the men and women of organized labor. We have to continue to message, with an intensity perhaps never before seen, as it relates to these economic issues.
Democracy is the subject of your book (and a principal focus of this column). You hear the argument made that it's too abstract for most people. Do you think it was politically a mistake to talk about it as much as Democrats did?
JEFFRIES: We can’t walk away from the issue of democracy. Fundamentally, what democracy is about is the ability of the American people to be the captains of their own destiny. Of course, [it] may seem abstract, but it’s about representative government – of the people, by the people, and for the people. It may be flawed. It may be imperfect. It’s the best system ever invented, and we’ve got to continue to make sure that we maintain it.
Check out some of Zeteo’s other post-election coverage:
Hakeem Jeffries fails to address the effect of genocide or the Zionist lobby on elections. He has taken $1,037,000 from AIPAC and other pro-Israeli PACs during the 2023-24 election cycle alone. Zionist organizations don’t care if Dems win or lose because they control both parties. Jeffries is the epitome of a Democratic sellout.
“We fell short”
No sh!t sherlock!
But as we have seen it by the Democratic corporation, they prefer to put the blame everyone else including the working class, the anti genocide group and the snow in the North Pole.