Hakeem Jeffries Reacts To Trump's Reported 'Detailed Plan' To Deploy National Guard To Chicago

Forbes Breaking News

On Sunday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) spoke to CNN's Dana Bash about President Trump's plan to mobilize the National Guard in Chicago.

Transcript

00:00There is a new reporting this morning that President Trump has a detailed plan.

00:06It's been in the works for weeks, apparently, to send National Guard troops into Chicago.

00:11What is your plan as the Democratic leader in the House to fight that?

00:17Well, I strongly support the statement that was issued by Governor Pritzker,

00:23making clear that, one, there's no basis, no authority for Donald Trump to potentially try to drop federal troops into the city of Chicago.

00:34There's been no request from the state of Illinois, no request at all for federal assistance.

00:41I support the Chicago Police Department. I support the New York Police Department.

00:46These are men and women who have taken an oath to protect and serve these communities,

00:50and they do a great job of that.

00:54And we should continue to support local law enforcement

00:58and not simply allow Donald Trump to play games with the lives of the American people

01:03as part of his effort to manufacture a crisis and create a distraction because he's deeply unpopular.

01:10The one big ugly bill is deeply unpopular.

01:13Ripping health care away from millions of Americans is unpopular.

01:17Enacting tax breaks for their billionaire donors is deeply unpopular.

01:21And that's why a lot of this is taking place, Donna.

01:24Do you think it's manufactured that Americans, even likely in the city of Chicago, are worried about crime?

01:31Of course, people are going to be worried about public safety all across America.

01:39I represent a community that for decades has had to deal with the crack cocaine epidemic,

01:45the failed war on drugs, gunshots going off at different points in time in communities.

01:51So, of course, all of us will continue to focus on making sure we can drive down crime whenever and wherever it is taking place.

02:01This is not about the American people.

02:03The American people, understandably, want safer communities.

02:07As Democrats, we want safer communities.

02:09We want to continue to make sure that crime can go down as it's doing in Chicago, in New York, in Washington, D.C., and other places.

02:18And to do that, we should support local law enforcement.

02:21We should make sure that the flood of guns into these communities is cut off.

02:26We should make sure that we're dealing with the mental health crisis that exists all across the United States of America.

02:32And, by the way, which Donald Trump is exacerbating by cutting funds to actually help people who are dealing with emotional distress.

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