'This Week' Transcript 11-8-26: House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed & Governor-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms
This is a rush transcript of "This Week" airing Sunday, November 8.
A rush transcript of "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" airing on Sunday, November 8, 2026 on ABC News is below. This copy may not be in its final form, may be updated and may contain minor transcription errors. For previous show transcripts, visit the "This Week" transcript archive.
JONATHAN KARL, ABC “THIS WEEK” CO-ANCHOR: Leader Jeffries, thank you for joining us.
REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES, HOUSE MINORITY LEADER & (D) NEW YORK: Good morning. Great to be with you.
KARL: Obviously, a huge election for you. Have you spoken to President Trump yet?
JEFFRIES: I have not spoken to President Trump. It was a big night for the American people. A tremendous repudiation of MAGA extremism, and a cry out for dramatic change in terms of the direction that we need to take to make life more affordable for the American people, to restore American values and, of course, the whole -- those who have visited unprecedented corruption on the American people accountable.
KARL: I mean, usually at this point, I would have expected that the president would have -- would have reached out to the -- to the Democratic leaders. He hasn’t called you. Have you tried to call him, or will you try to call him? I mean, you’re going to have to deal with him.
JEFFRIES: Well, we’ll see what happens in terms of moving forward. But I have spoken to three former presidents, and I'm thankful for those conversations. Of course, President Obama, President Biden, and President Clinton, and many other leaders across the nation. And, most importantly, I've had the chance to speak to everyday Americans who were the ones that powered this election and want us to actually deliver a Congress that no longer functions like a reckless rubber stamp for Donald Trump’s extreme agenda, but functions like a separate and co-equal branch of government designed to make life better for the American people.
KARL: It was interesting to see the president’s response to all of this. He didn’t -- he didn’t cry fraud, he didn’t challenge the results, contest the results, not immediately anyway. And when I spoke to him shortly after Tuesday, he said to me, “I think we can get along. It’s good for the country if we do. The country has had enough.”
Obviously he’s sent some different signals since then, but what’s your sense, are you going to be able to work with him?
JEFFRIES: Well, the country clearly has had enough. And we got to fight for an affordable America. The cost of living is way too high. We have far too many people in this country who are working hard, they’re playing by the rules, they can’t thrive, and they can barely survive. People are drowning in this failed Republican economy. And enough is enough in that regard. That’s why we’re going to fight to lower the high cost of living on all the things. And we have to. We've got to fight to lower groceries, gas, and housing. And certainly we’ve got to fight to make health care affordable for every single American.
Now, we’ll see whether our colleagues on the other side of the aisle actually are willing to listen to the American people so we can work to get things done.
KARL: So --
JEFFRIES: The good news is, Jonathan, that we’ve got a robust majority in a -- in a Democratic House and a robust majority in a Democratic Senate to be able to get to work.
KARL: So, what is the goal? There’s kind of -- there are two approaches you can take, oversimplifying a big here, but you can -- you can pass legislation that you think the president might sign, or you can pass a whole series of bills that you know he’s going to veto. What’s the approach?
JEFFRIES: Well, the American people clearly want change that’s bold, change that’s transformational, and change that is dramatic. They also want results because relief needs to come to the fact that so many people are struggling throughout this nation. And that’s everywhere. That’s in urban America, in rural America, in small-town America, in the heartland of America, and in black and brown communities all throughout America.
So, from our standpoint, we want to do things like end this reckless and costly war of choice in Iran, which has made life way to expensive. We need to stop the Trump tariffs. We need to reverse the Medicaid cuts that put the health insurance of millions of Americans at risk and threatens to close hospitals all over the place. We certainly need to reverse the SNAP cuts, and we need to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits. And hopefully we’ll see some courage by a few of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle to work on these issues to get things done.
KARL: And the only way ultimately you get things done is if either he signs them or you get enough -- I mean a lot of colleagues on the other side of the aisle to overturn his vetoes.
There are a couple of things that I see where you could potentially get him to sign. I mean, President Trump asked Congress back in January to cap credit card interest rates at 10 percent. He also pushed for most favored nation status, pricing on prescription drugs. And Republicans, Republicans never acted on either one of those. So, will you? Is that -- are those two areas where you could see passing bills in those two areas and saying, go ahead, Mr. President, sign it?
JEFFRIES: Well, we certainly need to provide credit card relief to the American people. And we need to lower the high cost of health care across the board. And we look forward to working on those issues. There have been a lot of Democratic bills that have been put into the public domain. A lot of Democratic ideas to try to drive down health insurance costs and the cost of being able to just live and live an affordable life, a comfortable life and a good life.
So, we’ll see what the opportunities are. But we’re committed to moving aggressively during the first 100 days of the new Congress and beyond to keep our word, to fight for an affordable America, to bring about accountability because we’ve seen unprecedented corruption that has been visited upon the American people. And we are committed to holding the crooks accountable and making sure that Congress functions like a separate and co-equal branch of government and a check and balance on an out-of-control executive branch.
And we also have to restore American values, like liberty and justice for all, equal protection under the law. Our commitment to the unfettered right to vote and to lift up our glorious history as a nation of immigrants.
KARL: You had some choice words for Stephen Miller’s elevation to chief of staff. You called him a dangerous xenophobe and reckless extremist. Said he had blood, American blood on his hands. How does that -- what does that mean for your ability to work with that Whtie House, with that chief of staff, this president?
JEFFRIES: It’s an awful choice. Stephen Miller is the architect of Donald Trump’s violent mass deportation machine. And has unleashed billions of taxpayer dollars to brutalize and kill American citizens, like Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good. And at the same period of time, to violently target law-abiding, immigrant families and communities all across the country.
So, you know, it was an irresponsible decision in my view. There’s not going to be an opportunity, certainly, to work with Stephen Miller and what he represents. And we’re committed to forcefully pushing back against the extremism that they may try to continue to unleash on the American people. And we’ve got a firewall in the House and a firewall in the Senate thanks to the American people.
KARL: Because that’s my understanding, you used to -- you talked on occasion or had some communication with Susie Wiles in your role as Democratic leader for her role as chief of staff, which is natural in any White House, any Congress. But you’re saying that’s -- that can’t happen with this new chief of staff?
JEFFRIES: It’s not going to happen with the new chief of staff to the extent that he lacks, because he clearly represents, along with Pete Hegseth and a few others, a really toxic brand of political engagement, of politics and of governance. And the American people just voted for that kind of MAGA extremism to be eradicated, which is why they’ve been defeated up and down the ballot all across the country, in the House, in the Senate, in governor’s races, in other statewide races and certainly in state legislative bodies.
KARL: Well, let me ask you about Pete Hegseth because Thomas Massie, of course a Republican, tells me that he intends to introduce a resolution of impeachment of Hegseth, as defense secretary, as soon as tomorrow? Are you going to support that? Will Democrats vote in favor of that impeachment resolution?
JEFFRIES: I'm a hard yes on the Hegseth resolution. The so-called secretary of defense has abused his power undermined our national security and engineered this reckless and costly war of choice in Iran, which has skyrocketed prices on the American people and made the country less safe. Pete Hegseth has got to go.
KARL: And you’re confident I -- all of the Democrats are going to join you on that?
JEFFRIES: We’ll certainly have that conversation on Tuesday morning when we reconvene for the first time in Washington, D.C. But I believe there will be incredibly strong support for that resolution.
KARL: What about the rest of the accountability agenda. Your incoming House Oversight Committee chairman, Robert Garcia, put it simply as to his agenda. He said, “lawyer up.” That’s the message to staffers in the Whtie House, the administration officials. Is that what it’s going to look like?
JEFFRIES: Well, there’s a cost to corruption. And throughout this campaign we’ve promised that we would focus certainly on affordability and driving down the high cost of living, and on accountability in the face of the unprecedented corruption that we’ve seen unleashed on the American people by the Trump cartel. And as a matter of fact, our view has been, if you’ve got folks out there who’s been short-changing the American people, screwing over the American people, or stealing from the American people, then they need to be held accountable in a manner consistent with Congress’ role, constitutionally, as a separate and co-equal branch of government and a check and balance on an out-of-control executive branch.
And my view is that we’ve got to follow the facts, apply the law, be guided by the Constitution at all times and then let the chips fall where they may on behalf of the American people and highlight the fact that this certainly is a cost to corruption when you have people in high office who are solely focused on enriching themselves, their family members, their friends, and their donors, and they’re not focused on making life better for the American people.
We’re committed to cleaning up the mess wherever it’s found. That’s in Congress, in the Supreme Court and with respect to this administration. You -- that’s why I strongly support banning members of Congress from being able to trade stock as one of the things that we’ll need to do as soon as we’re back in control.
KARL: Do you expect Stephen Miller will be called to testify in some of these oversight investigations slash hearings?
JEFFRIES: Well, I'm going to defer to Jamie Raskin and the Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee, as well as Robert Garcia and Democrats on the Oversight Committee in terms of how they’re going to proceed. We’ll have a conversation about that over the next few weeks and I'll want to get out ahead of any investigation, other than making clear that we are going to visit accountability on the wrongdoers.
KARL: And we’re just about out of time, but I've got to ask you, what does it mean to you to be on the verge of being the first black speaker of the House in American history?
JEFFRIES: Well, listen, this is representative democracy. And it’s been an honor and a privilege to be able to serve the people of Brooklyn, as well as to work on behalf of the people of this great country. It was definitely meaningful as I closed this campaign with Shomari Figures in Montgomery, Alabama, the birthplace of the civil rights movement, thinking about all of the struggles of those great heroes, like Dr. King, Rosa Parks, and so many other foot soldiers who helped to get us to this point.
Listen, we have to continue to push back against the national nightmare that has been visited upon the American people. But I'm confident, standing on the shoulders of so many great heroes, that we are going to be able to continue this country’s long, necessary and majestic march toward a more perfect union.
KARL: All right, Leader Hakeem Jeffries, thank you for joining us.
JEFFRIES: Thank you.
