JUST IN: Hakeem Jeffries Holds Briefing After Biden Addresses Nation On His Decision To Drop Out
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) held his weekly press briefing on Thursday.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Joe Biden is a patriotic American, a heroic American, a great American, and one of the
00:14most consequential presidents in American history.
00:19He's put the people of the United States of America ahead of his own political aspirations
00:30to serve a second term.
00:32Over the last three and a half years, President Biden, in partnership with Vice President
00:38Harris, have delivered for the American people in an extraordinary way to make life better
00:49all across the country.
00:52President Biden and Vice President Harris inherited three catastrophes at the same
01:01time from the prior administration.
01:05President Biden, in partnership with Vice President Harris, inherited a public health
01:12catastrophe that was badly mismanaged in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, a once-in-a-century
01:24public health crisis, and turned the situation around.
01:30President Biden and Vice President Harris inherited an economic catastrophe that resulted
01:39from the shutdown of the economy, and together avoided a recession and have turned the situation
01:48around to move us in the right direction, including through the creation of more than
01:5215 million good-paying jobs.
01:58President Biden and Vice President Harris inherited a democracy crisis, taking office
02:09only two weeks after the January 6th violent insurrection, where a violent mob of individuals
02:20tried to halt the peaceful transfer of power in a way that never before had occurred in
02:30the United States of America.
02:35President Biden and Vice President Harris inherited a public health catastrophe, an
02:44economic catastrophe, and a democracy catastrophe at the same time, and under the leadership
02:52of President Biden, in partnership with Vice President Harris, House Democrats and Senate
02:58Democrats have turned things around in order to create a brighter future for the American
03:05people.
03:06That's the Democratic track record.
03:10Extreme Magna Republicans have been in the majority for over 18 months.
03:18Can anyone name a single thing that Extreme Magna Republicans in the House have done in
03:27order to make life better for the American people?
03:29A single thing that they have done?
03:36You can't.
03:39As many House Republicans, like the distinguished gentleman from Texas, the Honorable Chip Roy,
03:47have pointed out, you can't name a single thing that Extreme Magna Republicans have
03:53done on their own to make life better for the American people.
03:59They are incapable of governing.
04:05And so, there's a big difference between the leadership of President Biden, Vice President
04:12Harris, House Democrats and Senate Democrats, and the chaos, dysfunction, and extremism
04:19that we've consistently seen from House Republicans.
04:25Questions?
04:26Good morning.
04:28Considering the demonstrations that we saw outside the building and everything, many
04:33of these folks associate with the left wing of your party.
04:37Talk about that divide and how Republicans would use that as politics against Democrats.
04:43And moreover, there were only, I think, 23 arrests here.
04:46It took a grand total of Capitol Police and elsewhere.
04:49Should the District of Columbia U.S. Attorney be trying to prosecute these folks more forcefully?
04:54Should that be an issue, that maybe there are more prosecutions?
04:58It's not clear to me that any of the protesters associate with the left wing of the Democratic
05:04Party, when these are individuals who have been aggressively protesting members of the
05:10House Democratic Caucus every week, every month, year after year, from October 7th,
05:19in connection with our support for the special relationship between the United States and
05:24Israel.
05:25So that's a factual assumption that is inaccurate.
05:30With respect to the unlawful activity that we've seen take place, particularly immediately
05:40outside of Union Station, it is unacceptable to deface public property, desecrate the American
05:52flag, threaten Jews with violence, or promote terrorist organizations like Hamas.
05:59Unacceptable.
06:00Anyone who engages in that activity should be held accountable to the full extent of
06:09the law.
06:10Not that complicated.
06:11Thank you, Mr. Leader.
06:12So I spoke with House Dems who boycotted Netanyahu's speech yesterday, and they say that instead
06:18of Netanyahu speaking to Congress, he should be engaging in a ceasefire deal.
06:22So what do you make of the fact that the Prime Minister didn't really talk about a ceasefire
06:27during his speech, given that nearly 40,000 Palestinians have been killed and hostages
06:33are still being held captive?
06:34It is my hope and expectation that in the conversations that the Prime Minister has
06:42with both President Biden and Vice President Harris, that a major topic of the conversation
06:49will be the Biden-Harris peace plan.
06:53That calls for, of course, the defeat of Hamas, the freeing of the hostages who have now been
07:06held in horrific conditions for close to 300 days, including American citizens alongside
07:16Israeli citizens, and for the immediate surging of humanitarian assistance into Gaza to help
07:29out civilians who have been in harm's way through no fault of their own.
07:34The Biden-Harris peace plan calls for a ceasefire of at least six weeks in phase one to allow
07:44for the movement toward a more permanent ceasefire and a just and lasting peace between Israel
07:52and the Palestinian people in a way that provides for the safety and security of the people
07:59of Israel, allows for the reconstruction of Gaza, partnerships with moderate Arab states
08:07like Jordan and Egypt, as well as movement toward normalization with Saudi Arabia, building
08:18upon the normalization that has already occurred with the Gulf states, and, of course, in my
08:25view, surging economic activity of Palestinian civilians in both Gaza and the West Bank
08:34as part of a movement toward ensuring we can get to the just and lasting peace that every
08:40reasonable person in the world should want to see in the Middle East.
08:47Barbara.
08:49Thank you, Mr. Leader.
08:51So my question is about Vice President Kamala Harris becoming the likely nominee.
08:56Some of your frontliners say that they're not sure how she might perform in some of
09:00these swing districts.
09:01She has a short amount of time to introduce herself.
09:04Are you having any conversations with any of your frontliners, and what's your response
09:08to them being a little bit hesitant on maybe how she'll impact down ballot?
09:13What we've seen over the last few days is that the American people all across the land
09:21have been excited, enthusiastic, and energized by the candidacy of Vice President Harris.
09:29Vice President Harris has a vision that is designed to lower costs for everyday Americans,
09:35grow the middle class, end price gouging, defend democracy, and protect reproductive freedom.
09:43Those are issues that are going to excite Democrats, but also, in my view, help move
09:56independent and slim voters in our direction as compared to the chaos, the dysfunction,
10:03and the extremism that we see on the other side of the aisle.
10:09Extreme right Republicans are running away from their agenda because it's so deeply unpopular
10:16to the American people.
10:18The American people want no part of Trump's Project 2025, which is about total control
10:30over the lives of the American people by extreme right Republicans.
10:35That's what Trump's Project 2025 is about.
10:39Total control over your life.
10:43We're all about freedom.
10:47Extreme right Republicans want a nationwide abortion ban.
10:52Vice President Harris and Democrats believe in a woman's freedom to make her own
10:57reproductive health care decisions.
11:00Donald Trump and extreme right Republicans want to end Social Security and Medicare as we know it.
11:07Vice President Harris and Democrats in the House and the Senate want to protect and strengthen Social Security.
11:15These are the issues that are going to be important in our congressional districts all across the country,
11:22in the Senate, races, and the issues that will be before the American people in November.
11:32I am confident that Vice President Harris is on the right side of each and every one of those issues.
11:41Back row.
11:43Thanks. So leading up to this decision by President Biden, there were many members,
11:48especially some from safe seats, who really wanted Biden to stay in the race.
11:53How, now that we see the outcome, how are you addressing some perhaps hurt feelings
12:00or challenges with those members who are still upset with how this whole process went down?
12:05I haven't had a single conversation with a member of the House Democratic Caucus who has expressed
12:11that they are upset with what has unfolded.
12:16We are all disappointed in the fact, in my view, that up until this point,
12:29the tremendous track record of accomplishment led by President Joe Biden hasn't necessarily been fully felt
12:41by the American people, but that often occurs. Yet President Biden, notwithstanding the fact,
12:49as he indicated last night, was ready to make his case to the American people,
12:57decided in a selfless way to pass the torch to the next generation of Democrats led by Vice President Harris.
13:07We are unified. The other side is falling apart.
13:11Straight black Republicans are having a complete and total meltdown.
13:15They're lying about Trump's Project 2025.
13:18They're lying about reproductive freedom and their intentions to impose a nationwide abortion ban.
13:25And they're lying about their desire to end Social Security and Medicare as we know it.
13:31Why are they lying? Because they're in free fall. Their agenda is unpopular.
13:40Their presidential nominee is the oldest in American history from a modern political party.
13:51And their vice presidential nominee is falling apart and crumbling right in front of us.
14:00Why was this guy selected? I'm confused. What does he add? What value does this guy add?
14:08Extreme black Republicans are asking themselves that question right now.
14:13They're falling apart. Not that we're celebrating. They're falling apart.
14:19We're going to continue to put people over politics, fight for the things that matter,
14:26like lower housing costs, ending price gouging, growing the middle class,
14:32defending democracy and fighting for reproductive freedom.
14:37Thank you, Mr. Leader. The Senate voted earlier this week on a bill that would enable big thumbs up,
14:45not consensual, sexually explicit deep fakes, to be able to sue the perpetrators.
14:51Later on today, they're going to vote to advance two child online safety bills.
14:57There's not been much progress over on this side on these issues.
15:00They're issues that are really, really important to the American people.
15:03With the House leaving early today to go on August 3 since you all not been back until September,
15:08is there any optimism that any progress on this issue, which seems to have some bipartisan support,
15:14not just within Congress but across the country,
15:16is there any hope that any of these issues will be addressed by the House before the election?
15:21House Democrats are going to continue to focus on trying to find bipartisan common ground
15:26with our Republican colleagues on any issue in order to make life better for the American people.
15:31That is what we have repeatedly done throughout this entire Congress.
15:38We believe that our job as members of Congress and representatives of the American people
15:44is to solve problems for hard-working American taxpayers and deliver real results.
15:51That's the House Democratic Caucus track record.
15:55The problem we confront is that the other side is all about chaos, dysfunction, and extremism.
16:01They are lying to the American people.
16:05We have a single legislative item that is on the floor today.
16:10Is it designed to address inflation? No.
16:13Is it designed to lower housing costs? No.
16:17Is it designed to help address challenges at the border? No.
16:22What is it?
16:25It's a fake and fraudulent resolution cooked up, I think,
16:30by one of the representatives from New York, who continues to embarrass herself regularly,
16:38that lies about the Vice President.
16:43She was never assigned the position of border czar.
16:46They're making that up because the extreme right Republicans are in full meltdown.
16:53They're reeling. They don't know what to do.
16:56And they lack an affirmative agenda.
16:59By the way, unlawful border crossings at this moment in time,
17:04thanks to the leadership of President Biden and partnership with Vice President Harris,
17:08is down to lower levels than what it was in the previous administration
17:14before the Biden administration took office.
17:18Not higher levels. Lower levels.
17:22And the Vice President was not a border czar.
17:26They are making that up because they have no affirmative agenda, vision,
17:35or track record for the American people.
17:38So you're not confident that any child online safety legislation will?
17:42That is bipartisan legislation with respect to protecting young people
17:47and everyday Americans in terms of egregious online behavior.
17:52And I am hopeful that we'll see bipartisan legislation that emerges from the Senate
17:57taken up on the floor of the House of Representatives upon our return,
18:01including legislation that is being championed by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez here in the House.
18:09Mr. Leader, thank you.
18:11Returning to the events of yesterday,
18:13I think you saw the silent protest by Rashida Tlaib on the House floor.
18:18She was holding up signs towards Netanyahu that said guilty of genocide
18:23and also war criminal on the other side of that sign.
18:26Did you think that was an appropriate thing for her to do?
18:30And if not, what do you think the consequences should be?
18:34I didn't see the activity of Rashida Tlaib.
18:38As I understand it, she was to my left.
18:40I was focused on the speech that was being delivered
18:43and processing the information that was being communicated by the Prime Minister.
18:47Was it appropriate? Thanks.
18:50To follow up on his question, was it appropriate?
18:54Rashida Tlaib is an elected member of Congress.
18:58She has a responsibility to her district in the same way that I have a responsibility to my district.
19:06Mr. Leader, I don't know if you saw the Judiciary Committee hearing yesterday,
19:10but Director Wray suggested that perhaps President Trump wasn't hit directly by a bullet in his ear,
19:14but perhaps shrapnel instead.
19:17Do you think that matters?
19:19And do you also believe that perhaps that means that President Trump should release his medical records
19:24as it relates to this investigation into the assassination attempt?
19:28Well, political violence is not acceptable in any way, shape, or form in the United States of America.
19:35And any effort to understand what happened, why it happened,
19:40and how do we prevent any type of attempted assassination on a political leader in the United States of America
19:47from ever happening again should be done in a thoughtful, comprehensive, and bipartisan fashion.
19:53The House voted on legislation yesterday to establish a bipartisan task force
19:57that received unanimous support from both Democrats and Republicans.
20:01That is the appropriate way to go.
20:04I'm thankful that the former president was not seriously injured in the attempt on his life,
20:13and I wish him a full and complete recovery.
20:17Thank you, Leader Jeffries.
20:19Regarding Vice President Harris, the group Black Lives Matter recently came out
20:23against her presumptive nomination for the Democratic nomination,
20:27which is going to happen without a public vote.
20:29They said that delegates are not oligarchs and that there needs to be a public vote on her nomination
20:34to complete that process.
20:36As someone who's going to be attending the Democratic convention later next month,
20:40what do you say to groups like Black Lives Matter and others that think that the legitimacy
20:45of this presumptive nominee is probably not complete without a public vote
20:50and think that the process is oligarchic right now?
20:52What do you say to them?
20:53Well, it's unclear to me which specific group you're talking about.
20:56There's a variety of different Black Lives Matter chapters across the country.
21:01There's no one national organization, and so it's hard to respond without understanding the context,
21:07other than to say Kamala Harris is the presumptive nominee for a reason.
21:12She has excited, energized, and united Democrats all across the country,
21:19and that will be reflected, in my view, in the vote of the delegates
21:25who have the ultimate power to determine who represents the Democratic Party
21:32at the top of the ticket.
21:34There is a process that has been set forth by the Rules Committee of the DNC
21:41by which anyone can petition to secure enough delegate support
21:51to get their name placed into consideration to be the presidential nominee for the Democratic Party.
21:59That's an open, available, and accessible process,
22:05but Vice President Kamala Harris, because of the strength of her vision, her ideas, and her track record,
22:13has all but cleared the field.
22:16Not from the top down, but from the grassroots up.
22:20Last question?
22:22Yes?
22:24Thank you, Mr. Leader. I appreciate it.
22:26Just to follow up on that, because this is a topic in Democratic circles,
22:31a lot of Democrats, people really do feel that the process is rigged from the inside, essentially,
22:37that if you try to run, you can't get a pollster, you can't get a consultant,
22:42because they'll get blacklisted.
22:44Could you address some of that tension?
22:46I haven't heard any of that from anyone that I'm privileged to represent back home in New York City,
22:53or in any of my travels throughout the country, or from any single member of the House Democratic Caucus,
22:59or from any of our supporters who have embraced the candidacy of Vice President Kamala Harris.
23:10This was all organic, in terms of the surge in enthusiasm and energy directed at Vice President Harris' campaign.
23:21She, in fact, indicated that she's going to work hard to earn the nomination,
23:27and she has done it, presumptively, in record speed.
23:32And all of the many highly qualified individuals who could have potentially entered into the nomination process
23:44decided on their own volition to back Vice President Kamala Harris.
23:51These are bashful individuals, but they decided on their own
23:59that unifying behind Vice President Kamala Harris was not just the right thing to do for the Democratic Party,
24:06it's the right thing to do for the country.
24:09As Democrats, we're going to fight, led by Vice President Harris.