House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) got into a heated debate in the hallways of the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday with his fellow New Yorker, Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY).
Lawler waited for Jeffries outside of a meeting room and pressed him to sign on to a one-year extension of Obamacare subsidies, which expire under the current GOP funding bill that the Democrats have blocked. The tense exchange was shared online by several Congressional reporters who recorded it.
The initial exchange between Jeffries and Lawler included the two mostly speaking over one another, while Lawler asked Jeffries to sign his bill, and Jeffries asked, “Did you get permission from your boss?” Jeffries was, of course, referring to President Donald Trump, suggesting Trump did not approve of his one-year extension proposal.
The exchange continued:
Jeffries: You’re embarrassing yourself right now. You’re chasing clout. You are an embarrassment! Let me ask you a question.
Lawler: You have four Democrats on here. Why won’t you sign on?
Jeffries: Let me ask you a question. Let me ask a question. You voted for the one big ugly vote, correct.
Lawler: I voted for a tax cut bill that gave the largest tax cut to Americans in history, including, by the way, the average New Yorker getting a $4,000 tax cut. Are you against that?
Jeffries: You’re embarrassing yourself right now. The largest cut to Medicaid in American history—you voted for that.
The two then spoke over each other until Jeffries raised his voice a bit, “Listen, you are not going to talk to me and talk over me.”
Watch the clip above.
The post ‘You’re An Embarrassment!’ Jeffries Throws Down With New York Republican In Wild Debate first appeared on Mediaite.
