ANALYSIS
Trump lashes out at Jeffries and questions whether he should be impeached for calling Supreme Court 'illegitimate'
In a message on Truth Social, the president branded the Democratic leader a "Low IQ individual" and demanded he retract it immediately, while Jeffries responded sarcastically with a laconic "Jeffries Derangement Syndrome."
Donald Trump at a press conference/ Saul Loeb
President Trump on Sunday launched a criticism of House Democratic minority leader Hakeem Jeffries, following the congressman's comments on the recent Supreme Court related to the Voting Rights Act.
In a publication on Truth Social, Trump called Jeffries a "Low IQ individual" and questioned whether his statements, in which he called the court "illegitimate," could be grounds for impeachment. "After saying such a thing, isn’t he subject to Impeachment? I got impeached for A PERFECT PHONE CALL. Where are you Republicans? Why not get it started?," the president wrote.
The call Trump was referring to was the one he held in 2019 with Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelenski and which resulted in his first impeachment trial.
Hakeem Jeffries responded sarcastically to the president's message. Instead of defending his poor statements against the Supreme Court, the Democratic leader merely posted on X: "Jeffries Derangement Syndrome," accompanying it only with a screenshot of Trump's post.
Cross-accusations in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling
The trigger for the dispute with the minority leader was Jeffries' reaction to the high court's ruling last Wednesday limiting protections against racial gerrymandering in congressional districts, as in the case of Louisiana.
Jeffries described the decision as "unacceptable" and "illegitimate" and referred to the conservative-majority court as "the Trump Court," accusing it of trying to suppress the vote of communities of color.
"Today’s decision by this illegitimate Supreme Court majority strikes a blow against the Voting Rights Act and is designed to undermine the ability of communities of color all across this country to elect their candidate of choice," Jeffries said. "But we’re not here to step back, we’re here to fight back."
The next day Donald Trump responded to the minority leader via a message on Truth Social: "Hakeem Jeffries just called the Supreme Court of the United States an illegitimate Court!"
"This is a Low IQ individual, who should not be allowed to talk that way about one of the Greatest Institutions anywhere in the World. He should withdraw the statement, IMMEDIATELY!," the president added.
Supreme Court strikes down Louisiana's congressional map
The litigation, known as the Louisiana v. Callais, arose after the post-2020 census redistricting, when the state approved a map with two majority-black districts. A group of voters, led by Phillip Callais, sued, arguing that it was "unconstitutional racial gerrymandering." The case reached the high court in 2025.
By a 6-3 vote, the court struck down the SB8 state map approved in 2024. Justice Samuel Alito, author of the majority opinion, wrote: "Because the Voting Rights Act did not require Louisiana to create an additional majority-minority district, no compelling interest justified the State’s use of race in creating SB8, and that map is an unconstitutional racial gerrymander."
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