'More is more': Hakeem Jeffries pushes Democrats to flood the zone in opposition to Trump [View all]
Source: NBC News
June 3, 2025, 1:04 PM EDT
WASHINGTON — In the chaotic opening weeks of President Donald Trump's second administration, Democrats debated whether to push back on every norm-shattering executive action, or pick and choose their spots and hope Trump would prove to be his own worst enemy. That debate has been settled, with Democrats aggressively taking on Trump in the courts, in the streets and on social media. At the center of that messaging strategy is House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., who privately has been urging his members to be more visible in their districts and on digital media, and has stepped up his own activity in recent weeks.
Rather than his regular, once-a-week news conference in the Capitol, Jeffries now holds as many as three press briefings with reporters each week in Washington. He is also making weekly appearances on popular podcasts outside the traditional political media circuit, including those hosted by Stephen A. Smith, Tony Kornheiser, Jon Stewart, Katie Couric and Scott Galloway.
Marking the opening months of the Trump administration, Jeffries delivered a scathing 30-minute rebuke of Trump’s “100 days of chaos, 100 days of cruelty and 100 days of corrupt behavior.” He also joined Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., for a 12-hour sit-in on the Capitol steps as they protested Medicaid cuts in Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.”
“We are in a ‘more is more’ environment. These aren’t ordinary times, and they require an extraordinary response,” Jeffries said in a phone interview with NBC News on Tuesday, one of roughly two dozen digitalmedia interviews he has participated in since February. “House Democrats are rising to the occasion to meet the moment,” he said, “but more from all of us will continue to be required until we can definitively end this national nightmare that Donald Trump and House Republicans are visiting on the American people.”
Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/hakeem-jeffries-pushes-democrats-flood-zone-opposition-trump-rcna209287
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