Jeffries says Democrats must ‘address economic challenges’ of Americans to win back voters

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• Amna Nawaz:

  Plans for president-elect Trump's return to Washington and the Republican Party's return to power are well under way, but for Democrats, who are now in the minority, the path forward is not as clear.

  Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York is the House Democratic leader and he's also the author of the new children's book "The ABCs of Democracy." He joins us here now.

  Good to see you, Leader Jeffries.

• Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY):

  Good evening. Great to be here.

• Amna Nawaz:

  So, you said earlier today, I want to start with the news of the day, that you don't think RFK Jr. is qualified to serve in the role that Mr. Trump has selected him for as HHS secretary. What is it specifically about him that worries you? And do you think he will be confirmed?

• Rep. Hakeem Jeffries:

  Well, on the campaign trail, President Trump was very clear. He promised the American people that we would have the best economy, the best border security, the best military, and the best administration.

  And we all have to ask a simple question right now. Is Robert F. Kennedy Jr. the best-qualified person in the United States of America to be the secretary of health and human services? Is he the very best available to the incoming president to look out for the health and the safety and the well-being of the American people? Of course not.

  And so the question has to be asked, why? Why this nomination and why some of the other nominations? Our hope as Democrats is to work together with the incoming administration whenever and wherever possible to make life better for the American people. But we're also committed to strongly disagreeing and pushing back against the extremism whenever necessary.

• Amna Nawaz:

  I want to ask you specifically about one of the other nominees, and that is Matt Gaetz, who you know from serving with in the House. He's been tapped to be the attorney general.

  ABC News is reporting late today that the woman who was at the center of a Justice Department sex trafficking probe into Mr. Gaetz, that that woman testified to the House Ethics Committee that was also investigating him. And she testified that he had had sex with her when she was 17 years old and in high school. That report is citing sources familiar.

  I want to get your reaction to that. Do you believe the House Ethics report should be made public? And should that testimony disqualify him?

• Rep. Hakeem Jeffries:

  Well, transparency is always the preferred approach, particularly when it comes to high-level government positions, such as the Department of Justice or the DNI or the Department of Health and Human Services and a wide variety of other positions that the incoming president is preparing to fulfill.

  Now, in terms of the House Ethics Committee, it's traditionally operated in a strongly bipartisan way. And it's my hope that the Democrats and the Republicans on the committee will get together. It's my understanding they may be meeting as soon as tomorrow to try to figure out a path forward and if there is information that they can present to the American people.

  I'm not going to get out ahead of that discussion. But I do place my trust in both the principal Democrats and the principal Republicans who are on that committee to do the right thing, so that the American people have all of the available information necessary, and so do the members of the United States Senate.

• Amna Nawaz:

  Do you think that report is necessary, though, to be made public before he's considered for a post like attorney general?

• Rep. Hakeem Jeffries:

  Seems like a reasonable suggestion that's been made by some of the members of the United States Senate. But let's see what the Ethics Committee does before members of leadership weigh in aggressively one way or the other.

• Amna Nawaz:

  So Republicans have now officially one control of the House, meaning they have a governing trifecta here, the White House and both chambers of Congress.

  It's now been more than a week since Election Day. So you have had some time to reflect. Does it surprise you, the success that they had in this last election, and also that Mr. Trump himself in his third run, knowing all we know about him, that he was able to win the popular vote?

• Rep. Hakeem Jeffries:

  Well, we will see where that ultimately lands. And I think the election probably at the popular vote level will be closer than is being projected right now.

• Amna Nawaz:

  But he could still win it.

• Rep. Hakeem Jeffries:

  Correct.

  And, notwithstanding, however that turns out, he had a decisive Electoral College victory. We have to ask the question, what happened? Why did it happen? How do we prevent this type of outcome that has so many Americans disturbed from ever happening again?

  My view is that we have to work decisively to address the economic challenges that everyday Americans are facing in this country. Far too many people are struggling to live paycheck to paycheck all across America, in urban America, in suburban America, rural America, exurban America, certainly small town America and the heartland of America.

  And we're prepared to work with the incoming administrations to decisively deal with that issue. It clearly is an issue that the American people have said loudly and clearly around inflation and high prices, we need Washington to act.

• Amna Nawaz:

  Yes.

  Well, you have said that it left some people upset, his win, but most of the American electorate backed him. They are not upset about this. This is what they wanted. Did that outcome surprise you? What's your takeaway from that message?

• Rep. Hakeem Jeffries:

  Well, my takeaway is that, at least as Democrats, we have got to do a better job of communicating that we are in lockstep with the American people, who want to see decisive action as it relates to lowering housing costs, lowering gas prices, lowering food prices.

• Amna Nawaz:

  Was this a messaging failure, you're saying?

• Rep. Hakeem Jeffries:

  Well, no. We're going to assess qualitatively and quantitatively sort of what happened on Election Day and we're in the middle of that process right now.

• Amna Nawaz:

  Yes.

• Rep. Hakeem Jeffries:

  What I am saying is, what is clear, the American people want and deserve this decisive action.

  Far too many people believe that the American dream is out of reach. That's not acceptable in a country that has given us the greatest middle class in the history of the world.

• Amna Nawaz:

  Well, let me ask you about what Americans are seeing right now, just in the last few days, because there's a very sort of dramatic split screen.

  You have a Republican Party that's just won control of both chambers of Congress and the White House. They have hit the ground running. The next government is coming together. And then you have a Democratic Party that seems largely leaderless for the party and really rudderless, sort of directionless, as you say, still figuring out what to do next.

  So what is the case that you will make for why you should be leader when House Democrats vote on their leadership next week?

• Rep. Hakeem Jeffries:

  Well, I will make that case internally and I haven't officially announced my candidacy because I'm in the middle of having conversations with the various parts of the House Democratic Party.

• Amna Nawaz:

  Is there a chance you don't run?

• Rep. Hakeem Jeffries:

  No, well, what I will say is that House Democrats clearly overperformed the national environment. Those are facts. This is not a decisive electoral victory for House Republicans.

  When Donald Trump was sworn in as president in 2017, there were 241 House Republicans and only 194 Democrats. When Donald Trump is sworn in this time around, notwithstanding the presidential wave election, at most, there will be 222 Democrats. At minimum, there will — Republicans. There will be 213 Democrats in the Congress.

  It's a close margin. It's a close election. We fell a few seats short, and we're going to work to rectify that situation, so that we give ourselves the best possible opportunity in the next midterm.

• Amna Nawaz:

  I think it's safe to say this is probably not the political landscape you thought you would be releasing this book under, "The ABCs of Democracy."

  But you do write in this, in the introduction, that: "America is at a fork in the road. Which direction will we choose?" That's the question that you pose.

  Does this last election answer that question for you?

• Rep. Hakeem Jeffries:

  No, I think what the book is in part about is the fact that we have had a 248-year journey as a country, the greatest democracy in the history of the world. And throughout that journey, of course, there are trials and tribulations. There's been turbulence.

  But there have been American values that have been a consistent part of that journey. And as we are processing this particular electoral result, we have to lean into those values and lean into the strength and resilience of our institutions, of what we have been about as Americans as we approach our 250th birthday on July 4 of 2026.

  And, hopefully, I have laid that out as an illustrated book for people of all ages, but with a focus on our younger Americans, on our children, and on those who are processing this moment and where we go from here.

• Amna Nawaz:

  That is the House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, joining us tonight.

  Leader Jeffries, always great to see you here. Thank you for your time.

• Rep. Hakeem Jeffries:

  Thank you.