House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries stood in front of a progressive conference on Tuesday and said exactly what Democrats think about the tens of millions of Americans who voted for President Trump.

He wants to break them.

He said Democrats had to beat them at the ballot box, then break their spirit.

The remarks came during the 2026 CAP IDEAS Conference, hosted by the Center for American Progress and streamed online via Zoom.

Jeffries, who would become Speaker of the House if Democrats retake the majority in November, used his session to frame the midterm election as an existential fight between his party and the Americans he labels “MAGA extremists.”

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Fox News reported on the remarks and the swift backlash they generated.

While speaking at a progressive conference on Tuesday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., called for Democrats to defeat “MAGA extremists” electorally and also “break their spirit.”

Jeffries, who stands to gain the House speaker’s gavel if Democrats take the majority in the midterm election, said that “part of how we as House Democrats view this moment, either MAGA extremists are going to break the country, or we’re going to break them, and our goal is to break them.”

During the panel, Jeffries assured, “As a guarantee, we are taking back control of the United States House of Representatives in November.”

“We will defeat them,” he continued. “We have to beat them electorally, and then we have to break their spirit, because of the extremism that’s being unleashed on the American people, that’s completely and totally unacceptable.”

The backlash moved fast. Edgar Barrios, a spokesperson for House Speaker Mike Johnson, said Jeffries wanted to “BREAK the spirit” of 77 million Americans and described it as the way Democrats talk about people who disagree with them.

RNC Chairman Joe Gruters added that the majority of Americans voted for President Trump in 2024 and said Democrats want to break those who did.

Senator Mike Lee posted that Jeffries wants to “break” Trump voters and asked what the remark even means.

Fox News Digital reached out to Jeffries for comment.

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Read those words again carefully.

He said defeat them, then break their spirit. That is a man describing how he wants to crush the political will of 77 million Americans who exercised their right to vote.

The Center for American Progress billed the conference as its signature annual gathering of center-left leaders and policy figures.

The Center for American Progress listed the May 19 gathering as the 2026 CAP IDEAS Conference, describing it as the organization’s signature event and saying it convenes “the big thinkers and doers on the center-left” for a day of policy discussion.

The agenda placed House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries in a session titled “A Look Ahead at the 120th Congress” from 10:43 AM to 11:05 AM EDT.

CAP described the session this way: “House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries will lay out what a new majority would do on day one and beyond. Moderated by John Podesta.”

The same agenda listed other Democratic and center-left figures, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, Gov. Abigail Spanberger, Sen. Cory Booker, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Raphael Warnock, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, and several MS NOW hosts or contributors serving as moderators.

MS NOW was listed by CAP as the official media partner for the event.

This was a prepared appearance by the House Democratic Leader, sitting on a panel moderated by John Podesta, at the progressive establishment’s premier policy conference.

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Jeffries used that stage to lay out the party’s mission against MAGA.

Republicans responded immediately.

Edgar Barrios, a spokesperson for House Speaker Mike Johnson, wrote on X: “Hakeem Jeffries says he wants to ‘BREAK the spirit’ of 77 million AMERICANS. This is how Democrats talk about people who don’t agree with them: violently.”

RNC Chairman Joe Gruters said: “The majority of Americans voted for President Trump in 2024. Democrats want to break those who did.”

Senator Mike Lee posted the clip and asked the obvious question.

What does it mean? It means exactly what it sounds like.

It means lawfare, investigations, social media censorship, corporate pressure campaigns, and every other tool Democrats have deployed against Trump supporters since 2016. It means making it so painful to support the MAGA agenda that regular Americans give up and stop fighting.

Grabien posted the clip and confirmed the full context of the remarks.

Grabien posted a clip page dated May 19, 2026, identifying the source as the Center for American Progress and the original recording as the Center for American Progress IDEAS Conference.

The page headline summarized the moment this way: “Hakeem Jeffries: ‘Either MAGA Extremists Are Going to Break the Country, or We Are Going to Break Them, and Our Goal Is to Break Them.’”

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The visible transcript on the page includes Jeffries saying that House Democrats view the moment as one where MAGA extremists are going to break the country or Democrats are going to break them.

It also includes the follow-up line that Democrats have to beat them electorally and then break their spirit because of what Jeffries called extremism being unleashed on the American people.

The clip page ties the remarks back to the same CAP IDEAS Conference session where Jeffries was asked to describe how House Democrats view the political moment.

Fox News Digital reached out to Jeffries for comment. As of publication, there was no response.

This is how the Democratic Party’s top House leader talks about you when he thinks his audience is friendly.

He does not see political opponents. He sees a spirit that needs to be broken.

Voters who support President Trump should take Jeffries at his word and answer the only way that counts: at the ballot box in November.

This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport. View the original article here.

 

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