Hakeem Jeffries addresses Democratic Party divisions, says Trump is the bigger issue

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: NPR

Updated July 3, 2026 8:53 AM ET


House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries is making the case for party unity as this year's primary season exposes ideological divisions among Democrats.

Speaking with Morning Edition on Friday, Jeffries was asked twice by NPR's Michel Martin how he would work with candidates who defeated Democrats he had backed in New York primaries. Each time, Jeffries returned to President Trump and the GOP agenda, saying Democrats are focused on flipping Republican-held seats in November, lowering costs and opposing what he called "MAGA extremism."

He added that the House Democratic Caucus has long included progressives, New Democrats and Blue Dogs. "I've worked with sort of the ideologically diverse group of members up until this point and will continue to do so," Jeffries said.

Jeffries criticized Trump's decision to enter the conflict in the Middle East, saying House Democrats oppose what he called the president's "war of choice."

Read more: https://www.npr.org/2026/07/03/nx-s1-5879082/hakeem-jeffries-democratic-party-divisions-trump-midterms

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. And trump IS the bigger issue, my dear BumRushDaShow! As for me? He is the ONLY issue. n/t

[CousinIT]

2. Jeffries is right. Trump IS the bigger issue. I get suspicous..

...of anyone trying to gin up infighting among Democrats right now, whether it's the Dem establishment, Dem MoCs, DSA/social Democrats, or people on social media.

Because they either have lost the plot or are working to get other people to lose it. We have ONE job - and Democratic infighting is NOT it.

[mcar]

3. He is 100% correct

We need to stop eating our own.

[SamuelAdams]

4. All that matters is limiting the damage Trump can do in his last two years.

We can have this fight in the 2028 Democratic presidential primary. Right now, we have to elect as many Dems as possible in November. We need to focus on state and local races too.

[dave99]

5. DEMOCRATs are not a Sole Goal organization, it is a Party. Republicans March IN FOOT STEP, like NAZIs

[pat_k]

6. Any differences among members of the Pro-Democracy coalition are NOTHING compared to the Republican threat.

Voters and candidates with any sensory apparatus whatsoever get the absolute necessity to join together in the fight to defeat the evil empire made manifest by the obscenely corrupt, fascist corporatist Republican Party.

The ONLY way to begin to hold them accountable is for Democrats and Independents who caucus with them to win in as many places and by the largest margins possible -- margins that swamp their efforts to suppress and disqualify legitimate votes.

Any action or rhetoric that undermines that goal SERVES the fascist corporatist Republican Party; SERVES the Christian Nationalists; SERVES the White Supremacists; SERVES the obsessive and immoral Anti-DEI and LGBTQ lunactics.

And whatever beefs a DSA or progressive candidate may have with other Democratic electeds and candidates, it is time for them to shift from attacking other Dems to attacking the existential threat of the Republican Party.

Making America a nation we can be proud of is all about building a government that protects our individual rights while providing the public infrastructure and services we choose to provide ourselves.

And a liberal democracy that collectively chooses to socialize certain segments does not make this a socialist county.

It is the Republicans who are hellbent to destroy the fundamental principles of liberal democracy that have been the throughline across our history.

Call bullshit on the "leftist" labeling crap, because it is utter crap