Democratic leader says Trump broke promises on costs and foreign conflicts
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Sunday that Republicans have “nothing to run on” heading into the November midterm elections, arguing that President Donald Trump failed to deliver on core campaign pledges to make life more affordable and avoid foreign conflicts.
Jeffries, a New York Democrat, made the comments on CNN’s State of the Union, exactly 100 days before the 3 November elections in which Democrats are seeking to flip control of both the House and the Senate.
Jeffries linked his party’s case to the rising cost of living and the ongoing war with Iran, which began in February. “Republicans … have failed to actually deliver on making life more affordable for the American people,” Jeffries told host Dana Bash.
He continued, “It was Donald Trump who promised to lower costs on day one. But we know that costs haven’t gone down in this country. Costs have gone up. It was Donald Trump … who said that he was elected not to start wars, endless wars in the Middle East, but to stop them — and then turned around and has gotten us involved in this reckless war of choice in Iran that has skyrocketed gas prices on the American people.”
The war has killed 18 US service members as of Sunday and injured hundreds more, while gas and grocery prices have climbed during the conflict. A Guardian poll found that 95 percent of Americans believe the US is experiencing an affordability crisis.
Jeffries also pointed to a Republican-led cut of more than $1 trillion from Medicaid, the public health insurance program for low-income and disabled Americans, adding, “They have nothing to run on. We’re going to run on fighting for an affordable America.”
“Too many people are working hard — they’re playing by the rules, but they can’t thrive,” Jeffries said. “And they can barely survive, not enough food on the table, not enough gas in the tank, unable to actually regularly and consistently afford to pay the rent or pay the mortgage.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt acknowledged the affordability crisis in a separate Sunday appearance on Fox News, but argued the blame rested with Democrats and former President Joe Biden’s administration.
“All these things will only get better if given two more years with a Republican Congress” in November, Leavitt said.
Jeffries also addressed the recent disclosure from Democratic New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill that a software error led to 6,600 noncitizens registering to vote, fewer than 400 of whom cast ballots before the error was identified and corrected. Trump and his allies seized on the announcement to boost claims that noncitizens on voter rolls could compromise election integrity, a strategy Jeffries argued was designed to distract from the administration’s record.
A recent analysis from Decision Desk HQ forecasts that Democrats are likely to win a majority in the House, while Republicans are narrowly favored to retain control of the Senate.