Democratic leaders, led by Hakeem Jeffries, persist in their ‘warfare’ rhetoric after assassination attempt on Trump

Despite the third assassination attempt against President Trump this Saturday, several Democratic leaders have chosen to defend their confrontational language rather than moderate it. The most notorious case is from the House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), who has reaffirmed his call for "maximum war" in the context of the battle over redistricting.

Jeffries uttered the controversial phrase last Wednesday, "We are in an era of maximum warfare, everywhere, all the time," referring to the Democratic strategy in the face of Republican efforts to bring redistricting to states like Florida and Virginia. Just three days later, the incident occurred at the Washington Hilton, where an armed individual attempted to approach the president and other Trump administration officials.

Democrats defend their "warfare" rhetoric

This Monday, the Democratic leader redoubled his stance to the press on the Capitol. "I stand by it. You can continue to criticize me for it. I don’t give a damn about your criticism," he declared.

According to Jeffries, this phrase is not original to his party and comes from an anonymous source close to the White House: "That phrase ‘maximum warfare everywhere, all the time’ came from the White House in the summer of 2025, when they started this redistricting battle, and now they're big mad," he declared. "Why? Because Democrats have decided to finish it. Get lost."

In addition, during his remarks to the press, the minority leader lashed out at the press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, whom he called a "disgrace" and "stone-cold liar," demanding, "Clean up your own house before you have anything to say to us about the language that we use."

Separately, during an interview on CNN's “State of the Union” on Sunday, just after the incident at the Washington Hilton, Congressman James Raskin (D-MD) directly rejected the idea that Democratic language contributes to the climate of violence. When asked by host Dana Bash whether Democrats should reconsider their "heated rhetoric" against Trump, Raskin responded, "What rhetoric do you have in mind?"

The lawmaker insisted that his criticisms are focused on what he considers the Trump administration's "authoritarianism" and not personal attacks, contrasting it with Trump's own language against the press.

For her part, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) celebrated Jeffries' "energy" on X after Jake Sherman, founder of Punch Bowl News, republished the minority leader's remarks inciting "maximum warfare."

"Hell yes. This is the energy," the congresswoman posted.

Republicans accuse Jeffries of fueling confrontation

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) slammed the Democrat's attitude harshly Monday: "Instead of dialing it back after years of consistent, violent words targeting the President, they are adding more fuel to the fire they started."

"Democrats are playing with fire and pretending they don’t smell the smoke. If they can’t bring themselves to put an end to this kind of rhetoric, it proves they’ll do anything to appease their far-left base," NRCC spokesman, Mike Marinella said.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, directly attributed Saturday's assassination attempt to language used for years by prominent Democrats. At her press conference Monday, Leavitt claimed that "This political violence stems from a systemic demonization of him [Trump] and his supporters by commentators, by elected members of the Democrat party and even some in the media."

Leavitt specifically mentioned Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, governors Josh Shapiro (D-PA) and JB Pritzker (D-IL), Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Ed Markey (D-MA) and Alex Padilla (D-CA), and Representatives Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) and LaMonica McIver (D-NJ). "The left-wing cult of hatred against the president and all of those who support him and work for him has gotten multiple people hurt and killed—and it almost did so again this weekend."

In addition, Leavitt sharply criticized host Jimmy Kimmel for calling the first lady Melania Trump "expectant widow" days before the event, calling the remark "deranged." While President Trump called for national unity in the wake of the incident, the White House stressed that constant rhetoric against Trump for 11 years has helped "legitimize this violence."

For her part, Congresswoman Beth Van Duyne (R-TX) also reacted strongly to Jeffries' remarks, recalling that on Wednesday he called for "Maximum warfare, everywhere, all the time" against Republicans and that days later "a deranged, heavily armed Leftist tries to assassinate the President and members of the Administration."

The legislator maintained that these facts are "not a coincidence" and affirmed that "Leftist violence against political opponents is real."

Florida Republican Party chairman Joe Gruters, tweeted about the temporal proximity between Jeffries' statements and the attack, noting that "Every American... should know what Democrats' rhetoric leads to."