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Former Republican Rep. Joe Walsh (Ill.) slammed Democratic leadership on Tuesday, months after joining the party.
“I know I’ve only been a Democrat for three plus months, so if I’m overstepping my bounds here I apologize, but damn…the leadership of my new party just doesn’t f—— understand the threat and isn’t f—— meeting this moment,” Walsh wrote on the social platform X.
Walsh’s comments were in response to a clip of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) discussing his approach to combatting President Trump’s agenda as funding negotiations ahead of an Oct. 1 shutdown deadline show little signs of movement.
“When Trump was president last time, Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi [(D-Calif.)] — and she was speaker, Democrats were in the majority — she seemed to relish going toe-to-toe with him on a daily basis,” MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace asked Jeffries on “Deadline: White House.” “Do you relish the fight with Donald Trump?”
Jeffries responded, noting that himself and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) sent a letter to the president regarding the looming government funding deadline.
“I think it’s an incredibly important fight for the American people, and I’m just not clear why Donald Trump is backing away from that fight,” he added, referencing Trump’s decision to cancel planned negotiations with Democrats.
Walsh railed against Jeffries’s approach in his Tuesday post, questioning the New York Democrat’s leadership.
“If you can’t relish fighting a fascist, then go home,” he wrote on social media.
Throughout the stalled funding talks, Republicans and Democrats have refused to budge on key points — including calls for a seven-week “clean” stopgap package and assurances about Affordable Care Act subsidies, respectively.
Amid increasing odds of government shutdown, Democrats continue to debate about the future of the party, as lawmakers and strategists can’t seem to agree on the best approach to combat Trump’s agenda.
The Hill has reached out to Jeffries’s office and the White House for comment.
