Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) refused to back down when Chuck Todd asked him about his tweets referring to Trump as Individual 1 and the grand wizard of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

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Transcript via Meet The Press:
CHUCK TODD:

Let me ask you this. I’m going to put up a tweet of yours. And you’ve been tweeting, you’ve been referring to the president not as the president in your tweets. You refer to him as “Individual 1.” Let me put up one here, for instance, from last week. “For decades, Individual 1 made a living stiffing his workers and contractors. And now he’s doing it to 800,000 federal employees and contractors. We must end reckless Trump shutdown and continue our fight for the people.” You refer to him as Individual 1. Obviously it’s something having to do with the Mueller probe. You called him the “grand wizard.” It seems–You’re a member of leadership. What’s that line in your mind? Why should the president negotiate with you if you’re going to name call him? I know he name calls. Why should he negotiate with you if you’re going to name call him?

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES:

Well, listen, it’s colorful language. And I think that the president is going to have to own his pattern of behavior that has taken place not year after year, but decade after decade. But I do believe that we do need to find a way together to move forward, Democrats and Republicans. And in fact, Chuck, as you know, I was able to work with the administration on criminal justice reform. Democrats, Republicans, progressives, conservatives, the left, and the right. If we can do it on criminal justice reform, I think we can find a way to move forward.

CHUCK TODD:

Do you regret your language or no?

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES:

I don’t regret the use of the language, but I do think we need to move forward. Listen, America is a great country. We’ve come a long way on the question of race. We still have a long way to go. At the end of the day, we’re a nation of immigrants. Some voluntary, others involuntary. I think it was Dr. King who said, “We all came on the same– different ships, but we’re in the same boat right now.” I think that’s the way to proceed.

Video:

The problem with Chuck Todd’s question is that it implies that it is fine for Trump to name call people, and level false personal attacks all day long, but a Democrat who is telling the truth is somehow being disrespectful. Rep. Jeffries wasn’t making thing up like the president does. He was telling the truth about the racist and divisive language that the President Of The United States spews virtually every single day.

This is not the same old Democratic Party

The DC media, the Republican Party, and Trump need to wake up and realize that this is not the same old Democratic Party. Democrats are done apologizing and sacrificing themselves to clean up Republican caused political disasters. Hakeem Jeffries deserves respect, not criticism, for telling the truth about the behavior and record of Trump.

The mainstream media needs to keep access to Trump, but Democrats are gaining respect by confronting the corruption in the White House and speaking truth to power.

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association