Jeffries isn’t the smartest. But he should have seen this coming.
Now Hakeem Jeffries is left utterly stunned after being asked one question.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries pivoted to attacking President Donald Trump when confronted Sunday over a bombshell report that thousands of illegal immigrants were found registered to vote in New Jersey and that hundreds actually cast ballots.
Jeffries Dodges as CNN Host Presses Him on the Numbers
CNN’s Dana Bash pressed Jeffries on “one of the most significant disclosures of non-citizen registration” during “State of the Union” on Sunday.
Democratic New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill disclosed the error last week, claiming the state discovered that a “serious software error” registered “roughly 6,600 noncitizens” as voters between June 2023 and June 2024. The governor’s office also claimed “fewer than 400” of the thousands of registered illegal aliens voted. She blamed the error on the administration of her immediate predecessor, Democratic New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, and said the illegal voter registrations are being removed.
“Democrats have repeatedly said that non-citizen voting doesn’t happen. It happened. Is this a problem?” Bash asked Jeffries.
“I think that I continue to have confidence in state and local authorities in making sure that there’s going to be a free and fair election in November,” he replied, “and, if modest or minor challenges emerge, such as the one that was disclosed voluntarily by the authorities in New Jersey, that it is immediately corrected. And that’s what I expect will continue to happen.”
Jeffries then quickly turned the exchange toward the president and congressional Republicans.
“Unfortunately, what we have seen from Donald Trump is that, in this particular case, Republicans have adopted voter suppression as an electoral strategy because they have failed to actually deliver on making life more affordable for the American people,” Jeffries said.
Kaine Downplays Illegal Voting as a “Glitch,” Rejects Federal Voter ID
Democratic Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, meanwhile, addressed the New Jersey registration issue on “Fox News Sunday,” offering a softer characterization of the scandal.
“This was a very unfortunate glitch. Importantly, it wasn’t that individuals were trying to vote illegally,” Kaine told host Shannon Bream. “There was a computer glitch that, when they registered for driver’s licenses and said they were non-citizens, the glitch got them mistakenly classified as citizens and registered them to vote.”
Kaine argued the answer lies with the states rather than Washington, pointing to his own state’s requirements.
“I think the right answer here is voter ID laws passed at the state level,” Kaine said. “Virginia has a voter ID law that’s sort of been acceptable. Whether our governors are Democrats or Republicans, it’s worked.”
He added that he saw no demand for a federal voter ID mandate. “My Virginians are not telling me we need to have a one-size-fits-all voter ID requirement for the entire nation … That’s something we can leave to state legislatures,” Kaine said.
Democrats Split Between Denial and Damage Control
The contrasting responses from Jeffries and Kaine highlight a broader divide among Democrats over how to handle the fallout from the New Jersey disclosure, with the House Democratic leader largely dismissing the episode as a “minor” glitch while deflecting toward Trump, and Kaine acknowledging the problem while still resisting calls for a federal voter ID standard. The exchange comes as Republicans continue pressing for nationwide voter ID and citizenship verification requirements ahead of November’s midterms.
