Yesterday, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries and Sen. Cory Booker engaged in some cringeworthy performative politics. They spent Sunday sitting -- yes, sitting -- on the Capitol steps to 'protest' the GOP's budget. There were (inaccurate) history lessons and ear-bleeding singing, but almost nothing of substance was done.
I say 'almost nothing' of substance because the sit-on spawned a new Democratic Party narrative: 'patriots' versus 'traitors.'
Hakeem Jeffries Invokes Civil War Era at Capitol 'Sit-In' Against Trump Budget: 'There Are But Two Parties in America Right Now: Patriots and Traitors' https://t.co/t95pQwbRHF
— Mediaite (@Mediaite) April 27, 2025
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out who Jeffries thinks are the patriots and who he thinks are the traitors.
As Mediaite reports (emphasis added):
Several Democrats took part in the hours-long “sit-in” on Capitol Hill against the budget proposals from President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers, led by Jeffries and Sen. Cory Booker, along with other guest speakers.
After hearing from Rev. William Barber, who talked about putting 'principles over party,' Jeffries brought up the Civil War to describe the current climate of the United States.
'Reminds me of a letter that Ulysses Grant was said to have sent at the start of the Civil War.' Jeffries said. He set the tone and comparison by describing the Civil War as a 'moment of great turmoil in the country, the country literally tearing itself apart,' and then approximated a quote attributed to Grant, including the necessity of sustaining the nation, government, and laws.
Jeffries then said that Grant “said something even deeper than that” before going on with his version of the quote.
'What Grant said is, ‘There are but two parties in America right now: patriots and traitors,''Jeffries said, as the small crowd voiced agreement with that as a description of today. He then added that they are calling on Republicans to put the American people first in the upcoming budget debate.
There's a lot to unpack here, isn't there?
Let's start with putting the American people first comment.
It takes some nerve for Hakeem Jeffries to tell Republicans to put the American people first. Especially after his party has spent the past several weeks flying to El Salvador to bring back an illegal immigrant while ignoring the family of Rachel Morin -- the Maryland mother who was murdered by an illegal immigrant who was just found guilty of that murder.
Here's what Jeffries had to say about Morin and other Angel Families (emphasis added):
Well, certainly, [Democrats] deeply sympathize with any American, any individual who has experienced a loss of life, of a loved one, certainly those who have lost a child. No parent should ever be in a situation where they have to bury their children. But I think it's also important to zoom out and be very clear, at least from my perspective, that violent felons here unlawfully should be deported. We need to secure the border. We do have a broken immigration system. It does need to be fixed in a comprehensive and bipartisan way. At the same period of time, we are going to defend DREAMers and farm workers and law-abiding immigrant families. That is part of who we are as Americans, both a nation anchored in the rule of law and a nation of immigrants from the very beginning. E pluribus unum — out of many, one.
Everything before the 'but' is negated by everything after it.
Where was Jeffries when the Biden administration ignored Americans in western North Carolina, as FEMA said they didn't have the funds to help those Americans who lost everything to Hurricane Helene? They didn't have funds because we spent billions on illegal immigrants. In the dead of winter, Americans were kicked out of FEMA-paid hotels. In Florida, FEMA employees were instructed -- by the highest echelons of the Biden administration -- to discriminate against disaster victims who had Trump signs and flags in their yards.
Where was Jeffries' outrage then?
If Jeffries wants to put the American people first, he can start by not labeling half the nation traitors.
Because that's what he's doing. He's not attacking the GOP. He's attacking the voters who elected the GOP. And he's not alone. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker doubled down on the 'traitors' narrative in a blatant call for violence against Republicans and their voters:
Pritzker calls for mass protests and disruption - “Republicans cannot know a moment of peace,” he says, swaying their portraits will one day be put in museums “reserved for tyrants and traitors” pic.twitter.com/BBBuL1Uz9O
— Edward-Isaac Dovere (@IsaacDovere) April 28, 2025
I've heard the Left say of the deportation of illegal immigrants and the Trump administration policies that 'this isn't who we are as a nation.'
It is, in fact, who we are. 75 million Americans voted for Donald Trump in the 2024 election. He won every single swing state, the Electoral College, and the popular vote.
This means a significant portion of the nation believes that deporting illegal immigrants, enacting tariffs, and the rest of President Trump's agenda is who we are and what we want.
I thought the Democrats were the defenders of democracy. They're not (as if we needed more proof). Like all things, 'democracy' is only useful when it helps the Democrats obtain and maintain power. When they lose, they treat democracy the same way you treat something nasty on the sole of your shoe: with disgust.
That's why they go to the courts to circumvent the will of voters. They did it with gay marriage, and they're doing it right now with every aspect of Trump's agenda.
When you smear the Republican Party as traitors, you are also smearing their voters as traitors. We, after all, elected them to office and gave them power. It doesn't take a genius to figure this out.
But because Democrats are not smart, they haven't connected those dots.
Voters, on the other hand, have. Which is why Democrats have a 21% approval rating right now.
Surely, calling us traitors will help bump those numbers up.
