Hakeem Jeffries Melts Down After White House Meeting With Trump

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) lashed out Monday night on MSNBC following a high-stakes White House meeting with President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) aimed at averting a government shutdown on Oct. 1.

Appearing with host Lawrence O’Donnell, Jeffries fumed about a Trump-posted AI video that poked fun at Democrats’ handling of the negotiations, showing Sen. Chuck Schumer speaking to reporters with Jeffries digitally altered to wear a sombrero and mustache as mariachi music played.

“It’s a disgusting video,” Jeffries complained, before pivoting to partisan attacks. “We are fighting to protect the health care of the American people in the face of an unprecedented Republican assault on all the things, Medicaid, Medicare, the Affordable Care Act.”

Jeffries then falsely accused Republicans of “closing hospitals, nursing homes and community-based health clinics, and effectively shutting down medical research,” while ignoring that Democrats are refusing to support the GOP’s clean continuing resolution to keep the government open.

The New York Democrat also claimed Republicans were “hurting everyday Americans while continuing to reward their billionaire donors,” referencing the Trump tax cuts. In reality, the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act made permanent reductions for more than 87 percent of working Americans—cuts every single Democrat voted against.

Jeffries insisted that Democrats were “united” in their refusal to pass a short-term spending bill unless it included a permanent extension of Obamacare subsidies, the same law Democrats promised 15 years ago would “fix” the health care system.

But Vice President Vance laid the blame squarely at Democrats’ feet.

“I think we’re headed into a shutdown because the Democrats won’t do the right thing. I hope they change their mind,” Vance said after the meeting. “Their opening position was a $1.5 trillion package funneling hundreds of billions of dollars into health care for illegal aliens, while Americans are struggling to pay their own bills. We thought it was absurd.”

The House has already passed a clean continuing resolution to extend government funding through Nov. 21. But the bill remains stalled in the Democrat-controlled Senate, with just hours left before a shutdown takes effect.