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EXCLUSIVE: White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt is firing back at House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., after he called her “sick” among other attacks Friday morning.
“Hakeem and the Democrats are going after it because they know what I said is true,” Leavitt told Fox News Digital. “Democratic Party elected officials absolutely deal with pro-Hamas terrorists, illegal aliens, and violent criminals. House Democrats voted against a resolution condemning Hamas following the horrific October 7 terrorist attacks, and Democrats applauded pro-Hamas radicals as they hijacked U.S. college campuses and harassed students Jews.
“Democrats have opened our borders and allowed tens of millions of illegal aliens into our country over the past four years, including rapists and murderers, because they see them as future voters,” she continued. “Democrats coddle violent criminals and support crime-reduction policies, like cashless bail that allows violent offenders back on the streets to harm law-abiding citizens.”
She then went after Jeffries directly while criticizing Democrats as a whole for blocking the GOP’s federal funding bill.
Screaming match breaks out between HAKEEM JEFFRIES and MIKE LAWLER AS GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN CHAOS CONTINUES
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt exchanged barbs Friday. (Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images; Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
“Democrats are NOT serving the interests of the American people. Hakeem Jeffries is an absolute America Last loser. Now open up the government and stop joking around trying to endear yourself to your radical left base,” Leavitt said.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Jeffries’ office for a response.
Earlier Friday, Jeffries criticized Republicans as a whole for their attacks on Democrats before focusing specifically on Leavitt during a news conference.
“You have Karoline Leavitt, who is sick. She’s out of control,” Jeffries said. “And I don’t know if she’s just demented, ignorant, a ruthless liar or all of that.
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White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during a press briefing in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, October 6, 2025. (Associated Press)
“But the idea that an official White House spokesperson would say that the Democratic Party is made up of terrorists, violent criminals and undocumented immigrants makes no sense, that this is what the American people are getting from the Trump administration in the midst of a shutdown.”
Tensions are high on both sides as the shutdown continuesand the impasse shows no signs of abating.
The government was shut down after Congress failed to reach an agreement on federal funding. (Getty Images)
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In fact, it’s set to enter its fourth week after Senate Democrats blocked the GOP’s federal funding measure for the tenth time on Thursday before leaving Washington for the weekend.
Republicans last month proposed a seven-week extension of fiscal 2025 funding levels, a continuing resolution aimed at giving congressional negotiators more time to reach a long-term deal for fiscal 2026.
But House and Senate Democrats were furious at being left out of those talks. The majority of Democrats refuse to accept any deal that doesn’t include serious concessions on health care, at least extending COVID-19 pandemic-era Obamacare subsidies, which are set to expire at the end of this year.
