House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said he stood by his remarks about engaging in “maximum warfare” with Republicans when it came to the battle over congressional redistricting.
Republicans have criticized Mr. Jeffries, a New York Democrat, for making the remarks just days before a gunman attempted to breach the ballroom with a firearm at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner to kill President Trump or a senior administration official.
He called the criticism “so-called criticism from these phony Republicans.”
“I don’t give a damn about your criticism,” Mr. Jeffries told reporters at the Capitol, adding that he still calls for “maximum warfare everywhere, all the time, in connection with the redistricting battle that Republicans launched.”
The Washington Times asked Mr. Jeffries about similarities between Democrats’ rhetoric and the accused gunman’s anti-Trump manifesto. Mr. Jeffries said, “I haven’t had an opportunity to read the manifesto. The defendant should be prosecuted to the full and complete extent of the law.”
Mr. Jeffries also said the phrase “maximum warfare” is often used in political discourse and that it was used by the Trump White House in the summer of 2025.
“They started this redistricting battle, and now they’re big and mad. Why? Because Democrats have decided to finish it. [They can] get lost,” Mr. Jeffries said.
Still, Mr. Jeffries said he does not condone political violence.
“Political violence in any form directed at anyone, whether that’s the right, the left or the center, is unacceptable. Period. Full stop,” he said.
National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Mike Marinella responded by saying Mr. Jeffries is ignoring the impact of his rhetoric.
“Democrats are playing with fire and pretending they don’t smell the smoke. If they can’t bring themselves to put an end to this kind of rhetoric, it proves they’ll do anything to appease their far-left base,” Mr. Marinella said.
Cole Tomas Allen, 31, who is charged in the attack Saturday at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, wrote a chilling manifesto ranting against Mr. Trump and his policies, saying he experiences “rage” over “everything this administration has done.”
The manifesto echoed much of the heated rhetoric Democratic lawmakers such as Mr. Jeffries use against Mr. Trump.
The accused gunman sent the manifesto to family members moments before charging through a security checkpoint at the Washington Hilton. He was armed with a shotgun, a pistol and knives, authorities said.
