House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in an interview Thursday that the nation is in crisis because of the policies of President Donald Trump.
"We are in a crisis across the board, in every way possible, including the assault on the democratic way of life," the New York Democrat told CNN. "The president is assaulting the economy, assaulting Social Security, assaulting health care, assaulting the American way of life, and assaulting our democracy. None of this is normal."
Jeffries said in the interview with Dana Bash that he is focused on life-or-death issues that affect his constituents. Trump has pledged to not make cuts to Social Security, though it has faced a reduction in employees as part of the Department of Government Efficiency's findings of waste and possible fraud in the retirement agency.
Jeffries was also critical of Trump’s tariffs.
"Donald Trump is clearly crashing the economy in real time and he’s driving us toward a recession," he said. "The manner in which these tariffs have been unleashed on the American people will result in the largest tax increase on everyday Americans since at least 1968. That clearly is a problem. That’s not what the American people signed up for."
Jeffries previously accused Trump of deliberately harming the U.S. economy through reckless tariffs, arguing that the policy is designed to benefit the wealthiest donors to the Republican Party and elite financial interests.
The president has said for years that countries are ripping off the U.S. with their tariffs and other barriers, and he's answering with renewed levies on them.
Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
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