LEADER JEFFRIES ON MS NOW: “DONALD TRUMP’S RECKLESS AND COSTLY WAR OF CHOICE HAS BEEN A DISASTER FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE”

Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries appeared on MS NOW's The Beat, where he made clear that Democrats remain committed to pushing back against Donald Trump's war of choice, lowering costs, fixing our broken healthcare system and cleaning up corruption.

ARI MELBER: New York Congressman Hakeem Jeffries is, of course, the Democratic Minority Leader. Thanks for joining me tonight.

LEADER JEFFRIES: Great to be with you.

ARI MELBER: What is your response to the news of these strikes and your view of what the United States should be doing in the US interest to try to resolve this, and for Americans to try to get gas prices back under control?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, Donald Trump's reckless and costly war of choice has been a disaster for the American people. This has now gone on for more than a hundred days. And as a direct result of this war, gas prices have gone up, food prices have gone, up and inflation has gone up. In Congress, we, of course, were able to successfully, last week in the House, pass a War Powers Resolution over the objection of both Donald Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson to end this reckless and costly war of choice in Iran. And we're hopeful that the Senate is going to take this up in short order and do exactly the same thing. You know, this was always a bad idea in terms of Donald Trump getting us involved in this conflict and he lied to the American people. Donald Trump said that he was elected not to start wars, but to stop them. And then he turned around and did the exact opposite.

ARI MELBER: Yeah, Congressman, it's interesting, you know, sometimes people out in the country feel like, well, what are the Democrats even doing? I'm sure you've heard that criticism at times. And yet here, your Caucus has engineered one of the fastest uses of war powers limits in the early stage of a war. And so what would happen if you got the Senate involved? Would this actually, in your view, help shorten or end hostilities?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Yeah, without question. I mean, Donald Trump should have never gone to war without seeking the authorization of the United States Congress. That's in Article I of the Constitution. Of course, he ignores these things, which is why, from the very beginning, we began to introduce and press our case in terms of War Powers Resolutions. And now we've managed to convince four Republicans to join us, giving us the ability to have successfully moved this in the House. In the court of public opinion, of course, we know that this war is deeply unpopular for all of the reasons that we've talked about, Ari. It's been a disaster in terms of the pocketbooks and the economics of the American people. And Donald Trump has had the nerve to say he doesn't care about the personal finances of everyday Americans. And we continue to see that. You know, Donald Trump and the administration, including the so-called Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth-they had no plan, they had no strategy, no objectives and no real visibility into how to get us out of a conflict that they got us into in the first place.

ARI MELBER: You mentioned pocketbook. So, if Democrats actually win the midterms, what changes for people's pocketbooks, gas prices and now what has been, as you mentioned, an inflation problem?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, the cost of living in the United States of America is far too high. This country is far too expensive. And there are too many people who are working hard, they're playing by the rules and they're struggling to live paycheck to paycheck. Can't thrive and can barely survive. And that's unacceptable in the wealthiest country in the history of the world. And so, we're committed to focusing relentlessly on the affordability crisis in a variety of areas-that includes housing and healthcare, gas and utilities, groceries and goods and caregiving, which of course includes both child care and elder care, the entire trajectory of one's life.

ARI MELBER: Will the midterms be secure? Congress, under Republicans, has pushed this money for immigration. There's a concern ICE or federal agents could be misused. How do you address that?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, listen, we believe that we have to operate under the assumption that Republicans are going to do everything they can to try to rig the midterm elections because the reality is they have no track record of accomplishment, no vision to present to the American people. We've undertaken now, for months, putting together the greatest, largest voter protection effort in modern American history, working with our partners in the Senate, Governors across the country, Democratic Attorneys General, Democratic Secretaries of State, as well as every aspect of civil society. That includes the civil rights groups, organized labor, democracy protection groups, good government groups and, of course, the faith community. And we have to continue to make sure that this election is going to be free and fair, because we believe, when it is a free and fair election, the American people are going to reject Republican extremism, and they're going to give Democrats control of the House of Representatives.

ARI MELBER: If that happens, you would become Speaker. That's a big deal. We've known you a long time here. I don't know if you'll answer this question, but is there anything you can think of if you were Speaker that in those final two years of Trump, because he is constitutionally barred from anything else, that you could actually work with him on, something where you guys would meet up and pass something?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, I think as Democrats, our view is, look, we've got to do three things. We've got to drive down the high cost of living, we have to fix our broken healthcare system and we have to clean up corruption in Washington. So that's the Congress, that's certainly the Supreme Court-and we need dramatic change as it relates to the Supreme Court-and, of course, with this administration, the Trump cartel, the most corrupt administration in America.

ARI MELBER: Yeah, I don't think he'll help you with corruption. At least under the legal definition, he's doing it.

LEADER JEFFRIES: I mean, you know, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is an ongoing crime scene. So you're absolutely correct, Ari. We don't expect that we're going to get any help there. We're going to lean in to aggressive accountability, consistent with our role as House Members to be a check and balance on an out-of-control executive branch. But if Donald Trump is actually willing to work with us so we can help him keep his promise to the American people, which was to lower the cost of living, then maybe there'll be an opportunity to get some big things done.

ARI MELBER: Understood. We don't know whether he'd even want to say that he's helping you lower inflation because of the way he's been talking. And, you know, people can make up their own minds about why he sounds like this. I don't think we've ever heard a President talk about the economy like this. I want to get your response to what he said here.

RECORDING OF REPORTER: Are you concerned, Mr. President, about the latest inflation number which came out this morning-

RECORDING OF DONALD TRUMP: No, I love it. The numbers were great. You know what I really love? I love the inflation.

ARI MELBER: Your response?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Yeah, it was sort of an extraordinary statement. But I also think we have to put this into context. Donald Trump believes there's no affordability crisis in the United States of America. He's called it a hoax. Donald Trump has directly said he doesn't care about the personal finances of the American people. And now Donald Trump has said he loves the inflation. And at the end of the day, I think the reality is, the only conclusion that we can draw is that he doesn't give a damn about making life better for everyday Americans, which is one of the reasons why life has gotten more costly and has gotten worse for everyday Americans, both as a result of the Trump Tariffs, which have increased costs by thousands of dollars per year. He's gone after ripping healthcare away from everyday Americans-millions of people-as a result of his actions in the One Big Ugly Bill. And now, of course, the reckless war of choice in Iran.

ARI MELBER: Turning to another big topic in the Congress, today Bill Gates was testifying about the Epstein investigation. Yesterday, Congress finally, after all these years, brought in one of his top top employees who the FBI at one time investigated as a "suspected co-conspirator." And the New York Times had this headline today about what a crisis mode the White House was in over Epstein and also holding these Situation Room meetings, considering at least potentially a pardon for his sex trafficking help, Maxwell there. You look at how the Situation Room has been used historically, Presidents in both parties-we have Obama and Biden in there-using it to mind national security, to go after, for example, we have the photo with bin Laden that many Americans remember. Your response to the disclosures in this article, and your view of what the committee is achieving with these new Epstein witness testimony, private hearings.

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, under the leadership of Ranking Member Robert Garcia, the soon-to-be Chairman, the Oversight Committee Democrats have done a great job of standing up on behalf of the Epstein survivors who've demanded two things-transparency and accountability. And so, we've forced the administration to date to release about 3 million documents related to the Epstein saga, but they of course continue to withhold another approximately 3 million. And we're not going to relent until every single document is released to the public, until every single bit of information to be acquired is acquired by the Congress on behalf of the American people. And so, what we've seen over the last two days is part of that continuing effort because what the Epstein saga represents is just a horrific abuse of power by men of privilege and a corrupting of the system, doing great harm to these incredibly resilient, brilliant and courageous survivors. And we can never allow something like this to happen again. And that's why I think House Democrats will continue to press the case and work with a handful of Republicans who've decided to step up in this regard, of course Congressman Massie being an example.

ARI MELBER: Yeah, it's interesting, Congressman, you and I have spoken before about these narratives people have. Sometimes the media gets into this. It's all one brush. This is a story that's been different. You mentioned Massie, who is a Republican who stood up for transparency against Trump. People say, does that ever happen? Garcia, who you mentioned and the folks you've empowered on your side, working for legal transparency in a way that is very different than Trump and others thought this story would go two years ago. So that's interesting. We did that here in your limited time. We talked about the war and the economy. Before I let you go, we have a lighter topic, a New Yorker that you and I both know of a little bit has said, you know, he's so spiked out, he could trip a referee. We've seen the photos of you with your Knicks hat and gear and excitement as a New Yorker. I want to let you weigh in on Knicks in how many, and what does this mean to you and your district and your City?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, I'm excited. The district I represent is excited. New York City, of course, is very excited. The Big Apple has a love affair with the New York Knicks. Basketball, of course, is the city game. And so, you know, to see this historic run that the Knicks have been on has really energized so many people, brought folks together. I said at the beginning of the series Knicks in six. Of course, we were perhaps on our way to doing it in a shorter series than that, but I expect we'll win today and then we'll see what happens when we go back to San Antonio, but, you know, I'm thankful. It was great to see-you may have noticed, Ari-that the Wu-Tang Clan is going to perform at halftime, which is a good vibe change from, you know, the special guest that made an unwanted appearance-

ARI MELBER: We have that. Here's the headline. Wu-Tang Clan will perform at Knicks Finals Spurs game halftime show tonight. Well, I don't want to put you on the spot. You're thinking about bigger things. Which, any songs you would hope to hear from Wu for your beloved Knicks tonight?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, you know, for me, Cash Rules Everything Around Me is a Wu-Tang classic. Protect Ya Neck is a Wu-Tang classic. But I think the most appropriate song for tonight would be Triumph.

ARI MELBER: Boom. Off the second album. Look at that, a Leader who does more than one thing, because we're all people. Fitting spirit there. We wish you and everyone good luck, Leader Jeffries, on the court. Thank you, sir.

LEADER JEFFRIES: Thank you so much.

Full interview can be watched here.

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