Leader Jeffries on Abc: “Donald Trump Has Broken Every Promise That He’s Presented”

September 13th, 2026 | Press Release LEADER JEFFRIES ON ABC: “DONALD TRUMP HAS BROKEN EVERY PROMISE THAT HE’S PRESENTED” Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries appeared on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos, where he made clear that while Republicans have abandoned the American people, House Democrats will continue to fight hard for an affordable America. GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: We’re joined now by the House Democratic Leader, Hakeem Jeffries. Mr. Leader, thank you for coming in this morning. We want to talk about the convention in a second, but let’s start with AI and these remarkable warnings we’re getting this week. I know you met with President Obama and talked about this issue earlier this week. What will Democrats—what do Democrats think needs to be done right now? LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, we certainly need to begin to act urgently to address the challenges that exist and unfortunately Republicans have abandoned their responsibility. So, under Speaker Mike Johnson, he killed a bipartisan task force this Congress that was prepared to do the serious work necessary to try to erect the guardrails to protect the health, the safety, the well-being of the American people. So what we did as Democrats was to begin last December a Commission on Artificial Intelligence and the Innovation Economy so we could evaluate the steps that needed to be done and then present an aggressive framework, which we’re in the process of doing so that Congress can act on behalf of the American people. GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: But do we even have time for that? You’ve got some of your colleagues, like Representative Ro Khanna and other Democrats, saying Congress should come back in right now, take urgent action right now. Don’t go back for the midterm elections until they’ve done something. LEADER JEFFRIES: I agree with my colleagues that we actually need to act urgently, and unfortunately, House Republicans have effectively canceled the last two weeks of the legislative session scheduled for this month , which is something that they’ve repeatedly done. We should take decisive action now so that we can slow down, as the CEOs have recently acknowledged, slow down the pace of development in order to protect the American people and ensure that AI is proceeding safely. GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: What is decisive action? Senator Bernie Sanders, as I said, has called for a ban on artificial superintelligence. Your colleague, Ted Lieu of California, says there needs to be a kill switch inside the companies. Are you for those? LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, we’ll have that conversation this week upon our return. We’re going to meet as a Caucus on Tuesday morning, and a high priority will be action on artificial intelligence. GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Okay, let’s turn to the midterm convention—the President’s $5,000 promise. If Democrats take control next year, is that dead on arrival? LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, listen, it wasn’t a serious proposal that was presented by Donald Trump. He’s broken every promise that he’s presented. Donald Trump promised to actually lower costs on day one. Costs haven’t gone down. They’ve gone up. Donald Trump promised not to start endless wars in the Middle East, but to stop them and then turned around and did the exact opposite in Iran. Donald Trump even promised to love and cherish Medicaid and then enacted the largest cut to Medicaid in American history. As Democrats, we’re going to focus on aggressively driving down the high cost of living and fighting for an affordable America because the cost of living in this country is way too high. Republicans have made the situation worse. Democrats are going to act aggressively. GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Democrats aren’t much more popular than Republicans right now. And the President and his allies at the convention this week tried to argue that you’re the party of communism. Let’s take a look. RECORDING OF DONALD TRUMP: Remember during the last State of the Union, I said, our country will never be a socialist country. I was right. It’s going to be a communist country, if they win. You know what they did? They dropped socialism. They went right for the big one. And all I’m asking in this election is that you stand with me together. We will defeat communism in America once and for all. GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Worried that attack might cut? LEADER JEFFRIES: Not at all. One thing that Donald Trump did say at the midterm convention that was interesting is to pretend as if he’s on the ballot. Mr. President, we don’t have to pretend. You are actually on the ballot. Your failed economy is on the ballot. The cost of living crisis is on the ballot. The fact that you’ve gotten us involved in a reckless and costly war of choice in the Middle East that has skyrocketed gas prices—that’s on the ballot. Ripping healthcare away from millions of Americans is on the ballot. The Trump Tariffs, which have increased costs on everyday Americans by thousands of dollars per year, are on the ballot. Donald Trump is absolutely on the ballot in November, and the American people are going to send a message loudly and clearly on Election Day that even Donald Trump cannot ignore. GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: The internet activist Hasan Piker was also front and center at this convention in Dallas this week, particularly his comment that America deserved 9/11. How should Democrats handle him? LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, I’ve been very clear in terms of my denunciation of him and the aggressive, in some cases antisemitic remarks that he’s issued, as have other Democratic candidates all across the country. Now what’s interesting is, in terms of who’s going to be on the ballot, George, in November, we’ve got extraordinary candidates. We’ve got combat veterans like Cait Conley and Rebecca Bennett, we’ve got doctors, we’ve got nurses, we have engineers, we have farmers, we have union leaders, we’ve got firefighters, we’ve got police officers, we have a hostage negotiator, we have a Tejano music superstar in the Rio Grande Valley and even a smokejumper in Montana. These are extraordinary candidates. Their names will appear on the ballot. They’ve got incredible patriotic life experiences and their commitment to public service is going to speak for itself. GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: You’ve taken some heat from progressives in the party, including from many who align with the Democratic Socialists. Are you confident that you’ll actually be Speaker if the Democrats win? LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, we’re focused right now on taking back control of the House of Representatives . That is the only mission that’s important, so we can lower the high cost of living, lower the cost of gas, lower the cost of groceries, lower the cost of housing, certainly fight to make healthcare affordable for every single American and combat the unprecedented corruption that’s been unleashed on the American people and beginning on day one, hold the crooks accountable. We’ve made clear, George, that if someone has been screwing over the American people, shortchanging the American people or stealing from the American people, they’re going to be held accountable under a Democratic majority. GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: You said hold the crooks accountable. Does that mean that the House is going to be pursuing impeachment proceedings on day one? LEADER JEFFRIES: No, we haven’t ruled anything in and we haven’t ruled anything out in terms of impeachment. As it relates to accountability, what we’re going to do, led by Jamie Raskin and House Committee Democrats on the Judiciary Committee as well as House Democrats on the Oversight Committee, led by Robert Garcia—both of them are doing a tremendous job— we’ve got to follow the facts, apply the law, be guided by the Constitution and then let the chips fall where they may, in the best interest of the American people so that the House, once again, can function like a separate and co-equal branch of government and a check and balance on an out-of-control executive branch. GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: On that theme, a lot of Democrats had raised questions about the activities—the private business activities of Jared Kushner. Was it a mistake for you to meet with him? LEADER JEFFRIES: No, listen, I’m of the view that if we’re going to be committed to actually solving problems on behalf of the American people, including, by the way, passing the housing affordability bill in this Congress that became law as a result of bipartisan work led by Maxine Waters in the House and Elizabeth Warren in the Senate, there are going to be times that you have to speak with people on the other side of the aisle, even individuals who you strongly disagree with on the overwhelming majority of issues. GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: And if the number one issue is the cost of living right now, what do Democrats do on day one about that? LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, listen, there’s a variety of different things that we’re going to have to do. We have to end the Trump Tariffs, because we know the Trump Tariffs have increased costs on everyday Americans by thousands of dollars per year. We’ve got to stop this reckless and costly war of choice in Iran, which has skyrocketed gas prices to the highest levels, for instance, on Labor Day ever seen in the United States of America. We’ve certainly got to fix our broken healthcare system and do the type of things like restoring the Affordable Care Act tax credits, which have increased costs on everyday Americans by thousands of dollars per year, in some cases up to a thousand dollars per month in ways that are unaffordable for people who can no longer be able to go see a doctor when they need one. These are some of the things that I think we can begin to do, but it’s going to have to be a bold, aggressive legislative effort that we sustain, not just for the first 100 days, but for the first year and the entirety of the Congress . GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: It’s almost certainly going to have to take some cooperation from President Trump. He went on Fox News this week and said he thinks he can make deals with you. Do you see areas where cooperation is possible? LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, I think, look—we’ve said from the very beginning of this Congress, if the other side of the aisle is willing to find the common ground necessary to decisively address the fact that everyday Americans are drowning in this Republican economy , working hard, playing by the rules, can’t thrive and can barely survive, then we’re committed to actually trying to find that common ground , as we just recently did with the housing affordability bill that is now law. GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Leader Jeffries, thanks for your time this morning. LEADER JEFFRIES: Thanks, George. Full interview can be watched here . ### Back to News Share: Facebook Twitter