The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Messaging of Hakeem Jeffries (#110)
In this edition: The House Democratic Leader recently expressed support for racist Donald Trump policies, a corrupt Democratic Congressmember, and shared a lame and counterproductive political slogan. I would like him to stop doing that. Plus links to other stories I am following and a closing quote about what Jesus actually said about abortion.
Here we go. I’m glad you’re here.
“It might be helpful for you to know that you are not alone. And that in the long, twilight struggle which lies ahead of us, there is the possibility of hope.” “The Long Twilight Struggle.” Babylon 5, created and written by J. Michael Straczynski, Season 2, Episode 20, 1995.
Ceilings Are Good, Actually
The House Democratic Leader recently expressed support for racist Donald Trump policies, a corrupt Democratic Congressmember, and shared a lame and counterproductive political slogan.
Even for Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), that’s a lot of ick in a limited amount of time.
Let’s start with Jeffries inexplicably giving credit to the president for his immigration policies and for pardoning a corrupt Member of Congress. No seriously. As The New Republic’s Malcolm Ferguson explains:
The insipid congressman twice made a point to praise the president on two particularly controversial decisions—his crackdown on the southern border and his pardon of Texas Democratic Representative Henry Cuellar, whom the Justice Department charged with accepting around $600,000 in bribes from an oil and gas company owned by Azerbaijan’s government and a Mexican bank.
Here’s a clip from CNN in case you need to see it to believe it.
Jeffries: "The border is secure. That's a good thing. It happened on his watch. He wants to claim credit for it, of course he'll get credit for that. In terms of making sure that we actually deal with the issues that matter, including on immigration, there's a lot that's left to be desired."
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2025-12-03T17:00:29.092Z
Democratic elected officials should never accept such a premise regarding Stephen Miller’s cruel and racist immigration policies and the evil implementation of them by ICE, the Department of Homeland Security, and other law enforcement agencies.
This is political messaging 101. An effective leader could have said that securing the borders is important. However, there are ways to do it without separating children from families, invading communities with secret police, demanding people show their papers, and detaining immigrants who are trying to do the right thing by going to their scheduled immigration hearings.
Also, at a time when elite corruption and the president’s abuse of the pardon power are such hot topics, an opposition leader should not offer thanks for its misuse just because it protected a colleague from a case started by the Biden Administration’s Department of Justice.
Leader Jeffries, let’s be clear: you don’t ever actually have to hand anything to Trump. Never. Seriously: never.
In fact, effectively doing your job right now requires you to oppose him.
Somehow, though, these statements are not the worst messaging to come from Jeffries recently.
That would be Jeffries’ attempt to inject a new four-word phrase into the political conversation, one based on a book written by a venture capitalist (because Democratic voters definitely want to continue sucking up to that group of people). As the Washington Post’s Paul Kane writes:
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) has been invoking a new rebuttal as opponents try to pin the socialism label to the Democratic agenda.
“We believe in a country where you have a strong floor and no ceiling. That’s what we believe in as Democrats,” Jeffries told reporters leaving his Nov. 20 news conference.
The highest-ranking Democrat in the House went on to explain the concept as, “When you work hard and play by the rules in the United States of America, there should be no ceiling to the success that you can achieve.”
Oh, the donor class will love that. Greed is good. The Democratic Leader said so!
While I agree we need a stronger floor, I think ceilings are good as well. I have one over my head right now—one for which I am quite thankful. They are worthwhile investments that help protect floors from damage and people from the harsh elements.
The Democrats need better messaging. But “strong floor, no ceiling” doesn’t tell a story that will resonate with voters who keep demanding change because the system is not working for them, even as it becomes more challenging to afford necessities.
As Jason Sattler explains in this Framelab post, the slogan abandons working families—which isn’t a great look for Democratic leaders.
While wealthy donors may love that as a contrast to Mamdani’s redistribution or the slogan “Every billionaire is a policy failure,” which is championed by many on the left, think of the actual metaphor here: It’s a structure without any protection from the elements.
That’s a moral disaster for average Americans struggling to provide for their families in at least two ways.
If high prices are a dominating concern for voters, the lack of a price ceiling would be a nightmare. And while most venture capitalists don’t have to worry about keeping a roof over their heads as winter begins, much of America does. And not just in New York City, with some of the most expensive rents on earth.
Early this year, 3 out of 4 Montanans said they were worried about affording a home.
Sattler also explains how “no ceilings” paints as the villain those who want a ceiling placed upon the oligarchs. Who are those people? Most rank-and-file Democrats.
Targeting your base as the villains of the story? Yeah, that’s the galaxy-brain politics that created a space for Donald Trump to succeed.
Do we actually know if Jeffries wants to lead a resistance against the Trump regime and its authoritarian attempt? Do we want to restore our economy by reversing the series of “largest tax cuts in history” the oligarchs have received under Trump and other recent Republican presidents?
Democrats who refuse to oppose need to step aside. We should not tolerate aspiring Quislings.
Tabs I Closed
- As Democrats search for their ‘MAGA,’ author catches Jeffries’ attention (Paul Kane, Washington Post, Link to Article)
- Democrats’ New Slogan Is a Donor-Class Disaster (Jason Sattler, Framelab, Link to Article)
- Hakeem Jeffries Seriously Says Trump Deserves Some Credit (Malcolm Ferguson, The New Republic, Link to Article)
Other Stories I’m Following
- The media must stop helping Trump market misery (Mark Jacob, Stop the Presses, Link to Article)
Jacob is right to ask the reporters and headline writers to stop being public relations flacks for the Trump regime. No one is required to use the cute code names that launder the Trump regime’s unpopular and vile Stephen Miller deportation policy. As Jacob writes, “The news media don’t need to go along with this playful nicknaming. They could stay generic and refer to the “immigration crackdown” in a particular area. They could – and should – refuse to be manipulated.” - Federal agents get an ice-cold reception in Minneapolis (Dan Froomkin, Heads Up News, Link to Article)
Froomkin shares stories of people resisting ICE in Minneapolis, New Orleans, and New York. Activists are learning from each other and saving people and families from incarceration and deportation. These are inspiring stories amid all of the gloom! I hope more people across the country will join in if federal agents invade a city near them. - Why Is Warner Bros. for Sale at All? (David Dayen, The American Prospect, Link to Article)
Warner Bros. is a sustainable business. None of the previous mergers led by tech oligarchs involving this company have been successful (AOL Time Warner, anyone). While we should not forget to focus on what the Trump regime’s manipulation of anti-trust processes could mean for CNN and journalism, Dayen rightly reminds us that the CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery could get up to $500 million if a sale closes. We can stop choosing to prioritize these financial windfalls at any time. Neither of the proposed mergers should be approved due to their impact on creative industries and customers. - ChatGPT Told a Violent Stalker to Embrace the ‘Haters,’ Indictment Says (Samantha Cole, 404 Media, Link to Article)
Why are we allowing the people behind releasing these large language models into the world without enough testing and safeguards to get rich, pretend to be oracles, and avoid accountability? We are going to keep seeing stories like this one. As Cole writes, “A Pittsburgh man who allegedly made 11 women’s lives hell across more than five states used ChatGPT as his “therapist” and “best friend” that encouraged him to continue running his misogynistic and threat-filled podcast despite the “haters,” and to visit more gyms to find women, the Department of Justice alleged in a newly-filed indictment.” - The Most Egregious Double Standard in Sports (Jemele Hill, The Atlantic, Link to Article)
The greed and hypocrisy of college coaches are among the leading reasons I support the rights of college athletes to be paid and to transfer immediately. Division I schools have paid out around $200 million in buyouts for coaches they have fired. Other coaches, like Lane Kiffin, are leaving right before the playoffs to take a job that pays better and appears more prestigious. It is ridiculous that institutions of higher learning have allowed themselves to be used by head coaches who are often the highest-paid government employees in their state. But far too many people give the supposed adults a pass while complaining when players use their rights. The critics are wrong. Coaches and administrators have failed. So, I’m here for athletes taking care of themselves. - A’ja Wilson Is TIME’s 2025 Athlete of the Year (Sean Gregory, Time, Link to Article)
I love seeing the three-time WNBA Champion getting wider recognition for her incredible play and activism. This past season as a member of the Champion Las Vegas Aces, Wilson earned her fourth MVP, her second Finals MVP, her second scoring title, and her third Defensive Player of the Year. She is already one of the greatest to play in the WNBA, and she has a good start on becoming the GOAT of women’s basketball. - Finally, I think this house ends the debate about whether Die Hard is a Christmas movie.
Post-Game Comments
Today’s Thought from my Readwise collection:
“The Authorized King James Bible contains over 783,000 words. God, Moses, Jesus, the prophets, and Paul never use any of them to condemn abortion, and they all had plenty of chances. I realize some of you may be starting to get upset, so let me do what my court-appointed therapist calls “de-escalation.” Again, nobody’s saying Jesus is proabortion. But there’s zero reason to believe that if Jesus met a woman who’d made that choice he would’ve shamed her, or tried to have her jailed. And that’s another difference between Jesus and some of his unauthorized fan clubs.”—John Fugelsang, Separation of Church and Hate
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On January 6, 2021, Donald Trump instigated a violent insurrection against the United States government. Here’s a video from the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol that one can review if their memory fades.
People were hurt and police officers died protecting the Capitol. Vice President Pence and other elected officials just barely escaped danger. Our national streak of peaceful transfers of power ended.
It was not, as Trump claims, a “day of love.” And we must resist his efforts to rewrite the history of that dark day.
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