Hakeem Jeffries slams idea that Trump is ‘unstoppable,’ says ‘Dude is not winning anywhere’

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Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., the minority leader of House Democrats, delivered blistering critiques of Donald Trump’s presidency on Thursday and disputed the suggestion that the Trump administration’s dizzying executive actions to date are signs of early success.

“We are in an emergency, and I think it’s all hands on deck,” said Leader Jeffries during his weekly press conference on Capitol Hill, referring to actions that are currently being challenged in court.

Though President Trump sought to convey a resurgence of a “golden age of America” in his joint address to Congress on Tuesday, Jeffries slammed his primetime speech as a “horrible performance” and “one of the most divisive presidential addresses ever delivered in the history of the country.”

The top Democrat said Trump also failed to mention Medicaid, which he and other Democrats warn is on the chopping block under the Trump-approved budget proposal passed by House Republicans. The concern over Medicaid was so worrying for Rep. Al Green of Texas that he interrupted Trump’s Tuesday night address and was later censured by the House on Thursday. Jeffries said other safety net programs like Social Security benefits are also in danger, given Trump’s remarks, where he falsely suggested that millions of Americans who are dead are still receiving checks.

The Democratic leader also slammed the president for spending “less than two minutes” speaking about the economy “when people are struggling to live paycheck to paycheck in America, the wealthiest country in the history of the world.”

Congressman Jeffries said Trump’s many actions to date, including mass firings of federal workers, freezing federal funds approved by Congress, and steps to eliminate critical agencies, are part of a larger strategy to “flood the zone” and distract from actions that Jeffries and other Democrats consistently say will devastate millions of Americans.

“[It’s] designed to create the appearance of inevitability [and] the notion that Donald Trump is unstoppable–he ain’t unstoppable,” said Jeffries, who noted, “Not a single bill connected to Trump’s Project 2025 agenda has passed the House because it’s unified Democratic opposition.” He continued, “But we’re supposed to believe it’s all inevitable…He’s invincible…Show me the evidence.”

A recent Marist poll suggests that 53 percent of Americans believe the state of the union is not strong. While 54 percent say it’s moving in the wrong direction, 45 percent say it’s moving in the right direction, a divide that falls mostly along partisan lines with mostly Republicans in favor of the president. The most notable poll statistic is the 56 percent of Americans who say the president is moving too fast without considering the impact of his actions.

Seemingly suggesting Trump’s agenda would be unpopular in Congress if it were to come to a floor vote, Jeffries challenged the president to present a bill to eliminate the Department of Education–which the Trump White House is reportedly considering through an executive order, according to multiple reports.

“You can’t abolish the Department of Education through an executive order,” said Jeffries. “Bring the bill to Congress if you want to get rid of the Department of Education. [Democrats will] stand on the side of the American people, and they’ll continue to stand on the side of Elon Musk.”

Leader Jeffries also pointed to recent court orders against the Trump administration, including a U.S. Supreme Court ruling against the administration’s attempt to keep frozen $2 billion in foreign aid through the now-dismantled United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

“This dude is not winning anywhere,” said Congressman Jeffries. “But the flood-the-zone strategy is designed to disorient and distract. I’m not going to be disoriented. We are going to push back successfully, and the American people will win.”

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