House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) recently addressed the 119th Congress after losing to the House speaker vote to Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA). During his remarks, Jeffries made a comical verbal slip when outlining all the values that House Democrats will continue to fight for in the Republican-majority chamber.
During his speech, Jeffries conceded, “Two months ago, the American people elected Donald Trump as the 47th president of the United States.” The Republicans in the room burst out into deafening applause after the Democrat acknowledged the will of the American people. “Thank you for that very generous applause,” the representative from New York added sarcastically. However, he made a jab at Republicans, stating, “It’s okay. There are no election tonight on our side of the aisle,” prompting cheers from the Democrats.
“You love America, when you win and when you lose, that’s the patriotic thing to do, and that’s the America that House Democrats will fight hard to preserve, because we love this country,” Jeffries stated, before outlining what the left will continue to fight for. “Democrats will never abandon the long walk toward freedom. We will fight hard to defend the freedom of opportunity that makes the American dream possible,” he said.
However, Jeffries then said, we will “fart hard,” presumably jumbling the words “fight” and “hard.” Quickly correcting himself without missing a beat, he explained that the left would “fight hard for the freedom to vote and to fight for a government of the people, by the people and for the people, we will fight for the freedom to organize and join a union of your choice.”
Continuing, he said, “We will fight to defend the free enterprise system, but work hard to make sure that it actually works for working-class Americans, and we will always defend a woman’s freedom to make her own reproductive health care decisions. America promises one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. That’s the America House Democrats will fight hard to preserve.”
Following his winning of the House speakership, Mike Johnson took to X, sharing what he will fight for. After acknowledging the unique opportunity the GOP has with the mandate provided by American voters, Johnson outlined three key commitments he will pursue in the 119th Congress. The first read, “Create a working group comprised of independent experts – not corrupted by lobbyists and special interests – to work with DOGE and our committees on implementing recommended government and spending reforms to protect the American taxpayer.”
Johnson added, “Task that working group with reviewing existing audits of federal agencies and entities created by Congress – and issuing a report to my office for public release.” The speaker then said, ” Request House committees undertake aggressive authorizations and appropriations reviews, including providing additional resources where needed, to expose irresponsible or illegal practices and hold agencies/individuals accountable that have weaponized government against the American people.”
The Louisiana Republican concluded, “If we want to restore fiscal responsibility, we must start by being transparent about the dollars that are spent, address the issues we find, and then hold those accountable who have misspent funds. Republicans have a mandate to implement the America First Agenda, and as Speaker, this will be my priority.”
Watch Jeffries comments below:
Note: The featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.
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