House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) attacked White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt for criticizing Democrats for their violent rhetoric after a shooting took place in the vicinity of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel.
During a press conference on Monday, Jeffries labeled Leavitt a “stone-cold liar,” and accused her of reading “talking points” and being critical of words Democrats had said.
“I know you said you stand by your comment, but at the same time you have been a subject of threats as well, so, with respect to this comment about maximum warfare, even if it’s about redistricting, why not tone down the language here, in this moment?” a reporter asked.
“I think that what’s interesting to me, as you’ve pointed out, is that the so-called White House press secretary, who’s a disgrace, she’s a stone-cold liar, had the nerve to stand up there and read talking points, being critical of statements — all taken out of context, that Democrats have made,” Jeffries said. Jeffries added that Leavitt made no mention of comments from “MAGA extremists.”
Jeffries’s comments came after Leavitt, during a press conference on Monday, called for people to tone “down the rhetoric” in the aftermath of a gunman opening fire at the Washington Hilton Hotel on Saturday night. President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and other Cabinet officials were evacuated from the room after gunshots were heard during the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
Leavitt noted that as Trump said on Saturday night, the nation needs to “re-commit ourselves, as a country to toning down the rhetoric and unifying around what makes our country great.”
“When you have mentally disturbed individuals across the country who are listening to this crazed rhetoric about the president, day after day after day, it inspires them to do crazy things,” Leavitt added. “Unfortunately, it’s not just the media. It is the entire Democrat Party that has made their pitch to voters across the country that Donald Trump poses an existential threat to democracy — that he is a fascist and that they compare him to Hitler.”
Leavitt provided examples of statements from Democrats such as Jeffries, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D), and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).
“Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, just this April — this month, said, ‘We are in an era of maximum warfare everywhere, all the time.’ Governor Josh Shapiro said, ‘Heads need to roll within the administration.’ Senator Alex Padilla said, ‘People are dying because of fear and terror caused by the Trump administration,'” Leavitt said. “Senator Elizabeth Warren, ‘President Trump is making the country look like a fascist state.'”