Hakeem Jeffries Accuses Trump And the GOP of Running a ‘Pedophile Protection Program’

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) accused President Donald Trump and the GOP of running a “pedophile protection program” instead of fighting to make life better for the American people.

During a Capitol Hill press conference on Monday, Jeffries accused the Republicans of caring “less” about the pain the government shutdown is causing.

“All Republicans care about is the opinion of one man, the puppet master of the Republican Party, Donald J. Trump,” Jeffries said. “They don’t care about anything else. How else can you explain the fact that they are weaponizing hunger? How else can one explain the fact that they refuse to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, and they’re hurting their own constituents?”

Jeffries claimed that the five states most impacted by ending tax credits on the ACA are all run by Republicans: West Virginia, Wyoming, Alaska, Mississippi, and Tennessee.

“How else can you explain the fact that Republicans have canceled votes now for six consecutive weeks — missing in action, taxpayer-funded vacations, running the pedophile protection program — while doing nothing to make life better for the American people.”

Jeffries referred to the allegation that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is protecting the president and “pedophiles” who may appear in the Jeffrey Epstein files. Johnson has refused to swear in Democratic Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ) who has vowed to vote in favor of releasing the files, claiming the shutdown prevents him from acting.

Jeffries continued, “What’s Donald Trump been doing this weekend? He was on the golf course, spitting in the face of the American people with his inaction and his indifference,” adding, “We’re on the right side of the American people. That’s what this fight has been all about.”

During his own press conference Monday, Speaker Johnson accused the media of allowing Democrats to get away with the “most extreme example of gaslighting in the history of American politics” by blaming the shutdown on Republicans, which he called “patently absurd.”

Johnson also said GOP leadership is figuring out how to handle the “rapidly approaching Nov. 21 expiration date of the continuing resolution” that remains stalled in the Senate.

Watch the clip above via C-SPAN.