EXCLUSIVE: White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt is firing back at House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., after he labeled her “sick” among other criticisms on Friday morning.
“Hakeem and Democrats are reacting strongly because they know what I stated is accurate,” Leavitt told Fox News Digital. “The Democrat Party’s elected officials undoubtedly pander to pro-Hamas terrorists, illegal aliens and violent criminals. House Democrats voted against a resolution condemning Hamas following the terrible October 7th terrorist attacks, and Democrats applauded pro-Hamas extremists while they took over America’s college campuses and harassed Jewish students.”
“Democrats left our borders open and permitted tens of millions of illegal aliens into our country over the last four years, including rapists and murderers, because they consider them future voters,” she continued. “Democrats pamper violent criminals and support lenient-on-crime policies like cashless bail that allow violent offenders back on the streets to harm law-abiding citizens.”
She then targeted Jeffries directly while blasting Democrats as a whole for obstructing the GOP’s federal funding bill.
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“Democrats do NOT act in the best interests of the American people. Hakeem Jeffries is an America Last, absolute failure. Now open up the government and stop pandering to try to get your radical left-wing base to like you,” Leavitt said.
Fox News Digital contacted Jeffries’ office seeking comment.
Earlier Friday, Jeffries denounced Republicans generally for their attacks against Democrats, before he shifted the focus to Leavitt specifically during a press conference.
“You’ve got Karoline Leavitt, who’s sick. She’s out of control,” Jeffries said. “And I’m not sure whether she’s simply deranged, ignorant, a stone-cold liar or all of the above.”
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He added, “But the idea that an official White House spokesperson would claim that the Democratic Party consists of terrorists, violent criminals and undocumented immigrants is absurd, that this is what the American people are receiving from the Trump administration during a shutdown.”
Tensions have risen on both sides as the shutdown continues, and the impasse shows no signs of abating.
Indeed, it’s anticipated to extend into its fourth week after Senate Democrats rejected the GOP’s federal funding measure for a tenth time on Thursday before adjourning from Washington for the weekend.
Republicans introduced last month a seven-week extension of fiscal year (FY) 2025 funding levels, known as a continuing resolution (CR), intended to provide congressional negotiators more time to reach a long-term agreement for FY2026.
But Democrats in the House and Senate were angered by being excluded in those discussions. The majority of Democrats are refusing to accept any agreement that does not include significant healthcare compromises, at least extending COVID-19 pandemic-era Obamacare subsidies that are scheduled to lapse at the end of this year.
