WEBVTT - DNC Shorts: Rep. Hakeem Jeffries 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:02.880 Native Land Pod is a production of iHeartRadio in partnership 0:00:02.920 --> 0:00:07.880 with reisent Choice Media. Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome. 0:00:08.240 --> 0:00:10.280 Hey, fam You're about to hear a replay of one 0:00:10.320 --> 0:00:12.879 of our interviews from our live stream at the Democratic 0:00:12.960 --> 0:00:15.600 National Convention. If you want to listen to or watch 0:00:15.600 --> 0:00:18.560 the full stream, check out the links in the episode description. 0:00:18.680 --> 0:00:20.800 You can also find a full list of all the 0:00:20.840 --> 0:00:27.240 guests we interviewed. Welcome home, y'all. Haqim Jeffries has been 0:00:27.320 --> 0:00:32.040 family from i'd say day zero, I'm Iri Andrew, you're 0:00:32.120 --> 0:00:34.080 not on mute. In the middle of my intro, thank you. 0:00:35.600 --> 0:00:38.320 Hakim Jeffries came in to see us when he was 0:00:38.360 --> 0:00:42.000 coming into Congress, and one of my favorite moments was 0:00:42.040 --> 0:00:44.080 as a staff person, him just being like, Okay, what 0:00:44.120 --> 0:00:44.680 do I need to do? 0:00:44.720 --> 0:00:45.600 Who do I need to know? 0:00:46.040 --> 0:00:50.199 And because of his genuine intellectual curiosity, I knew. I 0:00:50.240 --> 0:00:52.440 was like, this dude is going to be speaker, and 0:00:52.520 --> 0:00:56.520 we are on the eve of that dream and it's 0:00:56.600 --> 0:00:58.800 really knowing that that will come to pass. I want 0:00:58.800 --> 0:01:02.160 to know in the middle of your history making journey 0:01:02.240 --> 0:01:05.160 now as Democratic leader in the House, and where we 0:01:05.200 --> 0:01:05.800 are today. 0:01:06.000 --> 0:01:08.560 How does it feel, welly Azela, it is great to 0:01:08.560 --> 0:01:11.320 be with you, I could say here in Chicago, of course, 0:01:11.360 --> 0:01:16.640 this amazing team. You know here in Chicago, it's joyful, 0:01:16.640 --> 0:01:21.920 it's aspirational, it's unifying, it's electrifying. But we also know 0:01:22.160 --> 0:01:23.920 that there's a mission ahead of us over the next 0:01:24.000 --> 0:01:25.440 few months, and the other. 0:01:25.319 --> 0:01:26.640 Side can be diabolical. 0:01:26.760 --> 0:01:30.479 Yeah, and so we you know, we're here to thank 0:01:30.520 --> 0:01:34.880 President Biden, of course for his work he's passed the torch, 0:01:34.959 --> 0:01:39.040 to celebrate and elevate Kamala Harris and Tim Walls, but 0:01:39.080 --> 0:01:41.679 then to make sure that we're doing the work necessary 0:01:42.040 --> 0:01:45.319 so that they're successful in November, that we do take 0:01:45.400 --> 0:01:48.200 back the gavels in the United States House, and that 0:01:48.240 --> 0:01:49.760 we do what's necessary to hold the Senate. 0:01:50.080 --> 0:01:51.160 Yes, it's so important. 0:01:51.440 --> 0:01:53.120 It's going to be a lot of people who will 0:01:53.240 --> 0:01:56.320 lose their minds, Congressman, and we have when we have 0:01:56.560 --> 0:02:01.600 a black woman president, a black House speaker, black governors elected, 0:02:01.720 --> 0:02:06.360 more black mayors elected, and it really speaks to our 0:02:06.440 --> 0:02:10.320 ancestors built this country for free. That's the phrase I 0:02:10.360 --> 0:02:13.600 came up with myself. Originally, she saw that for me 0:02:13.680 --> 0:02:17.800 to see Angelus is all the time and to finally 0:02:17.919 --> 0:02:21.720 see our work, the fruits of our labor come together 0:02:22.360 --> 0:02:24.320 at this moment. A lot of people, I don't think 0:02:24.440 --> 0:02:27.639 necessarily understands the role of the Speaker of the House, 0:02:28.320 --> 0:02:32.120 because that is a title that you are about to assume. 0:02:32.160 --> 0:02:35.360 Because we speak things into existence on this podcast. What 0:02:35.600 --> 0:02:37.440 is the role of the House Speaker? 0:02:37.919 --> 0:02:42.040 Well, you know, I'll say that it's been an honor 0:02:42.560 --> 0:02:46.680 to stand on the shoulders of Nancy Pelosi, Senny Hory 0:02:46.680 --> 0:02:50.880 and Jim Cliveburn, you know who were legendary leaders. Of course, 0:02:50.960 --> 0:02:54.280 Nancy Pelosi as the Speaker of the United States House 0:02:54.320 --> 0:02:57.000 of Representatives, she'll go down in history, we believe is 0:02:57.120 --> 0:02:59.800 the greatest speaker of all time, along with you know 0:03:00.040 --> 0:03:02.680 Stenny who did his thing, and of course the great 0:03:02.760 --> 0:03:06.480 legendary Jim Clyburn, and they all collectively actually made the 0:03:06.560 --> 0:03:09.640 decision to pass the torch to the next generation of 0:03:09.680 --> 0:03:13.960 Democrats in the House last year, and as a result, 0:03:14.160 --> 0:03:17.560 Petere Aguilar, Catherine Clark, and myself now is House Democratic leader. 0:03:18.160 --> 0:03:20.800 The role of Speaker of course done incredibly well, you 0:03:20.800 --> 0:03:26.480 know by Nancy Pelosi really is a constitutional officer in 0:03:26.960 --> 0:03:31.240 the House of Representatives who presides over the House, determines 0:03:31.320 --> 0:03:36.400 the agenda, make sure that legislation moves through the House 0:03:36.640 --> 0:03:39.080 actually can get out of the House and hopefully make 0:03:39.080 --> 0:03:42.640 it through the Senate and become law. And also, depending 0:03:42.680 --> 0:03:46.280 on which party the Speaker is a member of at 0:03:46.280 --> 0:03:48.839 that given point in time, is also responsible for making 0:03:48.880 --> 0:03:51.440 sure politically, you know, things go right and that you're 0:03:51.480 --> 0:03:54.880 interacting with the other branches of government, you know, particularly 0:03:55.160 --> 0:03:59.320 the President, the Vice President, as well as the Senate. 0:04:00.920 --> 0:04:02.440 I just want to give a quick shout out before 0:04:02.440 --> 0:04:06.040 I toss it to Andrew. I know your wonderful, amazing 0:04:06.240 --> 0:04:11.000 intellectual brother, Hassan Jeffries, doctor Hassan Jeffries. I met Hassan, 0:04:11.360 --> 0:04:14.280 and when I met Hassan over in the nineties, over 0:04:14.320 --> 0:04:16.640 twenty years ago, you were running for office then, so 0:04:16.720 --> 0:04:18.640 you have been a public servant your whole life. This 0:04:18.720 --> 0:04:21.520 is like a family affairs, yes, but I want to 0:04:21.520 --> 0:04:23.960 give a shout out to the men of Kappa Alpha 0:04:23.960 --> 0:04:26.320 Psi Fraternity Incorporated as well, because we were just talking 0:04:26.360 --> 0:04:28.760 about the importance of the fraternities in this work and 0:04:28.800 --> 0:04:30.240 you are a member along with your brother. 0:04:30.520 --> 0:04:34.400 Thank you, mister Speaker to be I have marveled from 0:04:34.440 --> 0:04:37.920 Afar down in Florida at the way you have been 0:04:37.960 --> 0:04:44.240 able to manage and keep a very vast ideologically ranged 0:04:44.600 --> 0:04:48.800 caucus together. I mean the fact that you all have 0:04:48.920 --> 0:04:50.960 held on some of the votes that have come been 0:04:51.000 --> 0:04:53.920 put to the floor, that you have in many ways 0:04:53.960 --> 0:04:56.840 performed as the Speaker of the House and delivering very 0:04:56.920 --> 0:05:00.480 key legislation that could have otherwise been off the table 0:05:00.560 --> 0:05:02.080 or otherwise undermined. 0:05:01.600 --> 0:05:04.839 More effective than the active more effective. 0:05:04.440 --> 0:05:05.359 Because he delivers. 0:05:05.960 --> 0:05:08.320 I just got to ask a lot of folks around 0:05:08.360 --> 0:05:11.000 the country are nervous around the kinds of tactics that 0:05:11.120 --> 0:05:17.640 may be taken to either uncertify, not certify, put spoke, 0:05:17.720 --> 0:05:22.160 you know, obstructions in the wheel in order to delay 0:05:22.240 --> 0:05:25.560 the Congress's ability to do what is your ceremonial but 0:05:25.600 --> 0:05:30.159 also constitutional responsibility to count the votes, the Electoral College votes, 0:05:30.160 --> 0:05:32.440 so on and so forth, and certify the presidency. Please 0:05:32.480 --> 0:05:36.480 tell us that there are scenario planning, there is there 0:05:36.520 --> 0:05:39.360 are stop gaps in the way fell safes that can 0:05:39.480 --> 0:05:42.000 ensure that if we are out here encouraging people to 0:05:42.040 --> 0:05:44.679 go vote, they do their job, that when it comes 0:05:44.680 --> 0:05:47.159 to you all that we can rely on some protection 0:05:47.279 --> 0:05:50.480 that this election will not be stolen, will not be 0:05:50.600 --> 0:05:54.120 undermined by the other side, but that people can have 0:05:54.160 --> 0:05:56.880 some relative reliability on our democracy. 0:05:57.279 --> 0:05:59.080 Well, Andrew, great to see you, Thank you for your 0:05:59.120 --> 0:06:04.400 public service. It is a very important question. I think 0:06:04.400 --> 0:06:06.599 the good news is, first of all, we got to 0:06:06.640 --> 0:06:09.720 make sure all the reasons that you articulated all of 0:06:09.760 --> 0:06:13.960 the uncertainty, because whoever holds the gavels, whoever is in 0:06:14.040 --> 0:06:18.240 the majority on January sixth, which is the date set 0:06:18.320 --> 0:06:21.400 forth in the Constitution to certify the election. 0:06:21.920 --> 0:06:23.640 The new Congress is sworn in. 0:06:23.560 --> 0:06:27.560 On January third, meaning whoever is in the majority as 0:06:27.560 --> 0:06:30.520 a result of the November election will have the ability 0:06:30.760 --> 0:06:34.440 to decide whether to certify or not. And there's an 0:06:34.480 --> 0:06:38.560 open question if the Republicans continue to hold the majority 0:06:38.800 --> 0:06:43.279 because so many of their members are election deniers and 0:06:43.360 --> 0:06:46.480 have chosen simply to bend the need to Donald Trump, 0:06:46.960 --> 0:06:50.040 who has already trying to lay the groundwork to claim 0:06:50.080 --> 0:06:53.520 falsely if he loses or when he loses, that the 0:06:53.600 --> 0:06:55.120 election was stolen. 0:06:56.440 --> 0:06:59.000 So we got to take back the House. That's important. 0:06:59.560 --> 0:07:04.800 But we actually did act legislatively and passed a bill 0:07:04.880 --> 0:07:09.760 called the Electoral Reform count Act in two thousand and 0:07:09.800 --> 0:07:14.320 twenty two. That did two important things. One, it made 0:07:14.320 --> 0:07:18.480 clear that the vice president's role is only ceremonial important. Now, 0:07:18.600 --> 0:07:21.680 the good news is, in this particular situation, of course, 0:07:21.960 --> 0:07:25.960 the vice president is Kamala Harris. But for future elections, 0:07:26.400 --> 0:07:28.440 we've made it clear that no one can do what 0:07:28.480 --> 0:07:31.880 Donald Trump tried to do in bullying Mike Pence to 0:07:32.040 --> 0:07:37.600 unilaterally declare the election invalid and toss the electoral votes 0:07:37.760 --> 0:07:42.680 over to him. But perhaps the second, yet most important 0:07:42.680 --> 0:07:45.280 part of that legislation is it used to be the 0:07:45.320 --> 0:07:49.240 case that it only took one member out of all 0:07:49.280 --> 0:07:52.840 four hundred and thirty five to object to the election 0:07:52.920 --> 0:07:56.640 in the House and one member out of one hundred 0:07:56.720 --> 0:07:57.880 to object in the Senate. 0:07:57.920 --> 0:07:59.120 That's all that was required. 0:08:00.080 --> 0:08:05.000 And then you can create this whole scenario where shenanigans 0:08:05.000 --> 0:08:07.920 and games can be played. And that's what was set 0:08:07.960 --> 0:08:12.480 in motion on January sixth of twenty twenty one. We 0:08:12.640 --> 0:08:16.560 changed that so now it requires at least twenty percent 0:08:16.600 --> 0:08:21.240 of the House and twenty percent of the Senate, so 0:08:21.320 --> 0:08:25.000 that means at least a little over eighty members. 0:08:24.760 --> 0:08:26.800 Have to object. 0:08:27.720 --> 0:08:30.120 Now, you know, on the other side of the out 0:08:30.360 --> 0:08:32.120 you might be able to get to that number in 0:08:32.160 --> 0:08:35.320 the House, but we don't think you can get to 0:08:35.360 --> 0:08:38.760 that number in the Senate because there still are enough 0:08:39.000 --> 0:08:42.960 traditional Republicans, but we don't believe will go along with 0:08:43.080 --> 0:08:46.680 Donald Trump's shenanigans to try to undermine the results. And 0:08:46.720 --> 0:08:51.000 so this is an example of legislation actually being advanced 0:08:51.559 --> 0:08:54.120 in response to a crisis that puts us in a 0:08:54.200 --> 0:08:55.000 much stronger position. 0:08:55.080 --> 0:08:57.440 Well, the best feel safe, y'all if you didn't catch 0:08:57.480 --> 0:08:59.400 it at the beginning of the answer is to put 0:08:59.400 --> 0:09:03.320 Democrats can chargemcial. 0:09:12.320 --> 0:09:14.000 You know the other thing that I think is really 0:09:14.040 --> 0:09:16.760 important about the role of the speaker. You talk about 0:09:16.800 --> 0:09:19.600 the Democratic Party being a big tent party all the time, 0:09:19.880 --> 0:09:21.680 so your job is not going to be very easy. 0:09:21.720 --> 0:09:25.880 You have people across the ideological spectrum. You know that 0:09:25.960 --> 0:09:29.000 and have experienced that as the Democratic leader as well. 0:09:29.559 --> 0:09:31.400 Talk about some of the things that you will have 0:09:31.480 --> 0:09:34.920 to do to get people on the same page and 0:09:34.960 --> 0:09:37.400 some of the big picture ideas you have in that role. 0:09:37.480 --> 0:09:39.600 I'm gonna use as a personal example. He is my 0:09:39.679 --> 0:09:41.800 leader too, and I texted him when I. 0:09:41.720 --> 0:09:42.959 Was like, what did everybody got it? 0:09:43.080 --> 0:09:46.079 Indors come he knows it and he was like, let 0:09:46.080 --> 0:09:47.640 me be leader for a day. I was like, bye, 0:09:49.000 --> 0:09:51.320 I was spouting I was, it. 0:09:51.240 --> 0:09:53.959 Was but I but I. 0:09:53.920 --> 0:09:56.000 Think that it's important because you're going to deal with 0:09:56.000 --> 0:09:57.160 people who are throwing tantrums. 0:09:57.200 --> 0:09:58.960 I'm one of them sometimes, and you're. 0:09:58.800 --> 0:10:00.600 Gonna be dealing with folks who are like, I know 0:10:00.679 --> 0:10:02.920 the best way, How can follow me? How do you 0:10:03.000 --> 0:10:04.200 bring everybody together? 0:10:04.400 --> 0:10:05.600 Yeah? No, it's a great question. 0:10:06.120 --> 0:10:11.719 And you know, I think one we've adopted a philosophy 0:10:11.760 --> 0:10:13.600 and approach and this is something that I learned from 0:10:13.679 --> 0:10:18.360 Jim Clyburn that unity is different than unanimity. 0:10:18.520 --> 0:10:19.000 Wow. 0:10:19.520 --> 0:10:23.719 And the House Democratic Caucus represents the gorgeous mosaic of 0:10:23.760 --> 0:10:27.680 the American people with the closest institution to the American 0:10:27.679 --> 0:10:31.640 people by design. And on the House Democratic Caucus side, 0:10:31.679 --> 0:10:36.560 we have, you know, incredible diversity across every possible measure. 0:10:37.320 --> 0:10:40.760 But that means with people who have different life experiences, 0:10:40.800 --> 0:10:45.080 different perspectives, different constituencies, they may take a different view 0:10:45.080 --> 0:10:49.719 on a given issue or two. But we're not expecting unanimity. 0:10:50.600 --> 0:10:54.080 We are, however, expecting unity, which means that we're united 0:10:54.120 --> 0:10:57.680 around these principles of fighting for justice, fighting for freedom, 0:10:57.720 --> 0:11:01.559 putting people over politics, and we can have our family discussions, 0:11:01.559 --> 0:11:06.439 which we often do. Sometimes they're exuberant. We prefer them 0:11:06.440 --> 0:11:10.319 to be private, not public. But once we get through 0:11:10.360 --> 0:11:14.360 those family discussions, we find the highest common denominator. And 0:11:14.400 --> 0:11:17.000 this is what we've done throughout the entire Congress in 0:11:17.080 --> 0:11:19.080 order to get to the best possible result for the 0:11:19.080 --> 0:11:21.920 American people. Now, there will always be some folks who 0:11:21.960 --> 0:11:25.280 will say, well, you didn't go far enough. And our 0:11:25.360 --> 0:11:29.400 general view, learning from our civil rights legends right who 0:11:29.440 --> 0:11:32.400 went through a similar process as they were working through 0:11:32.559 --> 0:11:34.880 the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, and the 0:11:34.880 --> 0:11:38.640 Fair Housing Act, that sometimes you just have to live 0:11:38.679 --> 0:11:42.080 to fight another day. But we're all united in terms 0:11:42.120 --> 0:11:43.480 of where we want to go. 0:11:43.840 --> 0:11:46.760 Not make the perfect the enemy of the good, which 0:11:46.800 --> 0:11:51.360 often times too often happens the speaker to be. We 0:11:51.440 --> 0:11:53.439 know that your time is extremely valuable. I just got 0:11:53.440 --> 0:11:57.440 to throw you some crazy love over his oratory. Yes, 0:11:57.520 --> 0:12:00.640 I mean I've been moved on occasion where this stuff 0:12:00.640 --> 0:12:04.319 should be for process. Yes, and I keep getting Uh. 0:12:04.800 --> 0:12:09.240 The Congressman gets up and begins to speak, and he 0:12:09.280 --> 0:12:12.720 evokes history, and he evokes emotion, and he connects and 0:12:12.760 --> 0:12:19.200 weaves together such an incredibly diverse set of experiences of 0:12:19.240 --> 0:12:22.920 the American people to bring all of us into investment 0:12:23.520 --> 0:12:26.240 and whatever it is that they're attempting to do, it's 0:12:26.320 --> 0:12:29.320 it is. It is a power, yes, but more than anything, 0:12:29.360 --> 0:12:32.120 it is a blessing. And I'm so glad that you've 0:12:32.120 --> 0:12:35.240 been imbued with it because I think it's an essential 0:12:35.280 --> 0:12:38.520 part of what allows you to be the kind of 0:12:38.679 --> 0:12:40.880 successful speaker that I think you've already shown yourself to 0:12:40.920 --> 0:12:41.600 be by. 0:12:41.520 --> 0:12:42.800 Here a little hip hop every now. 0:12:45.080 --> 0:12:47.720 That's why My quick favorite quote from the Congressman is 0:12:47.760 --> 0:12:50.320 during the impeachment hearings and a Republican member said, I 0:12:50.400 --> 0:12:52.880 just don't know why we're here, and the Congressman stood 0:12:52.960 --> 0:12:56.680 up and answered him and listed innumerable reasons why we 0:12:56.720 --> 0:13:01.079 were here and laid out beautifully are you case And 0:13:01.120 --> 0:13:12.080 at the end he said, so if you don't know, 0:13:16.400 --> 0:13:18.800 Brooklyn is always in the house. And we love it. 0:13:18.880 --> 0:13:21.640 Literally, I love you on this podcast. 0:13:21.720 --> 0:13:23.559 We are champion gratulations. 0:13:23.559 --> 0:13:27.440 This is amazing podcast. Gratulations on all the success. And 0:13:27.679 --> 0:13:32.360 you know, Angela and Tiffany Andrew appreciate you'all family close. 0:13:34.200 --> 0:13:36.440 You'll let you be leader for a day. But tomorrow. 0:13:36.440 --> 0:13:37.600 You got to be mister speaking. 0:13:40.280 --> 0:13:42.160 Thank you, thank you. 0:13:42.920 --> 0:13:43.400 I love it. 0:13:43.400 --> 0:13:44.360 It's fantastic. 0:13:44.440 --> 0:13:45.760 I love it, love it, love it. Man. 0:13:45.760 --> 0:13:49.480 I'm so proud of of I mean, yes, I heard 0:13:49.559 --> 0:13:51.600 him first in Florida when he came down and did 0:13:51.640 --> 0:13:55.559 some some organizing work throughout the race and so on 0:13:55.600 --> 0:13:58.600 and so forth. But his leadership is incredible. Thank you, 0:13:58.800 --> 0:14:00.280 and we're now saying goodbye. If you want. 0:14:04.160 --> 0:14:20.040 Ling on, do that. Native Land Pod is the production 0:14:20.080 --> 0:14:22.840 of iHeart Radio and partnership with Recent Choice Media. For 0:14:23.000 --> 0:14:26.880 more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 0:14:26.960 --> 0:14:28.720 or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.