US House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries said on CNN's State of the Union that the Republican Party has "nothing to run on" for the congressional midterm elections, citing President Donald Trump's broken promises to lower costs and avoid overseas wars. The comments came exactly 100 days before the 3 November midterms, in which Jeffries and fellow Democrats hope to take control of the House and Senate from Republicans.
Jeffries criticizes Republican strategy over noncitizen voter claims
Asked about the elections, Jeffries noted how Trump and other Republicans seized on a 21 July announcement from New Jersey Democratic Governor Mikie Sherrill that 6,600 noncitizens in the state had registered to vote due to a software error. Fewer than 400 of those individuals voted before the error was identified and corrected. Despite this, the president and his allies used the disclosure to boost false claims about noncitizen voter rolls, even as Republicans are predicted to lose seats.
Jeffries argued the focus on voter integrity was a safer strategy than confronting the US and Israeli military's war with Iran, which began in February after Trump won a second term despite promising "not to start … endless wars in the Middle East".
Costs of war and affordability crisis
The war has resulted in 18 US troop deaths and hundreds of injuries. Gas and grocery prices have risen sharply, and exclusive polling for the Guardian found that 95% of Americans believe the US is experiencing an affordability crisis.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt acknowledged the crisis on Fox News but blamed Democrats and Joe Biden's presidency, saying "all these things will only get better if given two more years with a Republican Congress" in November.
Jeffries highlights Republican failures on costs and healthcare
Jeffries told State of the Union host Dana Bash: "Republicans … have failed to actually deliver on making life more affordable for the American people." He added: "It was Donald Trump who promised to lower costs on day one. But we know that costs haven't gone down in this country. Costs have gone up. It was Donald Trump … who said that he was elected not to start wars, endless wars in the Middle East, but to stop them – and then turned around and has gotten us involved in this reckless war of choice in Iran that has skyrocketed gas prices on the American people."
He also noted that Republicans cut more than $1tn from Medicaid, the public health insurance program for low-income and disabled people. "They have nothing to run on. We're going to run on fighting for an affordable America," Jeffries said.
"Too many people are working hard – they're playing by the rules, but they can't thrive," he said. "And they can barely survive, not enough food on the table, not enough gas in the tank, unable to actually regularly and consistently afford to pay the rent or pay the mortgage."
Midterm forecasts
An analysis from Decision Desk HQ forecasts that Democrats are likely to win a House majority, while Republicans are narrowly favored to retain control of the Senate.
