'This Week' Transcript 9-17-23: Rep. Hakeem Jeffries
Interview
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"There is not a shred of evidence that President Biden broke the law.
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Well, good morning. It's great to be with you.
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Well, if anything the indictment indicates that as President Biden and his administration have consistently said, there is no interaction between the president, the administration and the Department of Justice, which is going to simply follow the facts, apply the law, and president the truth as they see it to the American people.
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Let's be clear, House Republicans are in the middle of a civil war. A civil war has the following attributes, chaos, dysfunction and extremism. The House Republican civil war is hurting hardworking American taxpayers and limiting our ability to be able to solve problems on their behalf. It's unfortunate, but as House Democrats we're going to continue to try to find common ground with the other side of the aisle, to work with Senate Democrats and Senate Republicans and President Biden.
And hopefully, the House Republicans will come along so that we can work to make sure we are funding the government, that we have a government that can provide for the health, the safety, the economic well-being of the American people and we can end the partisan, political gamesmanship that right now has captured House Republicans.
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The White House has cooperated, and I believe the White House will continue to cooperate because there is nothing to hide. There is no facts in the record to suggest that President Biden engaged in wrongdoing. There are no facts on the record to suggest that President Biden engaged in impeachable offenses. There are no facts on the record to suggest that President Biden broke the law in any way, shape or form.
This is an illegitimate impeachment inquiry. It's a product of the House Republican's civil war. Why in the world, in the middle of all the issues that we are trying to tackle, all of the problems that we are trying to solve on behalf of the American people, would House Republicans inject this illegitimate impeachment inquiry in the middle of us trying to do the business of the American people. It's quite unfortunate. It's wrong. It's distracting. And it should end now.
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Well, it's my expectation that we will continue to have conversations as we move forward. Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, has our full confidence. And we are ready, willing and able to talk about moving America forward.
You know, we have a vision to put people over politics. That's what we should be doing. That's why we were sent to Washington, D.C., not to make an ideological point, but to make a difference. And we're going to continue to focus on making life more affordable for everyday Americans, lowering costs, better paying jobs, safer communities, defending democracy, fighting for reproductive freedom, and, of course, building an economy that works for everyday Americans.
And we urge our Republican colleagues in the House to join us. Stop fighting each other in the reckless, reprehensible Republican civil war and let's get to the business of the American people.
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Well, we haven't given it any thought one way or the other because, Jon, as I've indicated, we're going to continue to focus on solving problems for the American people. Now, if that moment presents itself, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. But what we should be focused on right now is avoiding an unnecessary government shutdown that will hurt the ability of our economy to continue to recover, which President Biden has led a tremendous recovery to date. And that shouldn't be interrupted because of partisan, political gamesmanship.
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I'll be heading to Detroit a little later on today. Looking forward to standing in solidarity with the United Auto Workers who are fighting for the fundamental American dream, which is quite simple, if you work hard and play by the rules, you should be able to provide a comfortable living for yourself, for your family, educate your children, purchase a home, and one day retire with grace and dignity.
That's the principle upon which the United Auto Workers are standing, and I stand with them.
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Well, I think it's all of our hope that it will end sooner rather than later. But record profits have been generated. Incredible economic prosperity has been generated for the corporations upon whom the UAW works with. And so I think it's only fair that everyone share in those record profits in the prosperity that has been created.
That's a fundamental American principle. That's why we were able to build in the aftermath of World War II the great American middle class. And we need to keep that going for everyone.
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Far be it for me to ever speak for Nancy D'Alesandro Pelosi, the greatest speaker of all time. She's very capable of answering that question on her own.
I will say that Vice President Harris has been a great vice president. She'll be a great running mate. She's been a tremendous partner in the things that President Biden has been able to accomplish, which has been phenomenal. Not just rescuing the economy in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, but fixing our crumbling infrastructure, clean water in every single community, bringing domestic manufacturing jobs back home to the United States of America through the Chips and Science Act, standing up for our veterans, gun safety legislation for the first time in 30 years, and, of course, capping the price of insulin at $35 per month for millions of Americans.
President Biden has led that effort. House Democrats and Senate Democrats have worked with the administration to get those things done.
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Vice President Harris has been a tremendous partner.
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Thank you, Jon."
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