House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries (D., N.Y.) on Friday blasted President Donald Trump's agenda, vowing that Democrats will "fight it in the streets."
"We're going to keep focused on the need to look out for everyday New Yorkers and everyday Americans who are under assault by an extreme MAGA Republican agenda that is trying to cut taxes for billionaire donors and wealthy corporations and then stick New Yorkers and working-class Americans across the country with the bill," Jeffries said. "We are going to fight it legislatively. We are going to fight it in the courts. And we're going to fight it in the streets."
The New York congressman made the pledge during a Congressional Black Caucus press conference in New York, where members spoke about the impacts of Trump's freeze on federal grants, mourned the 67 victims of the midair collision near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, and defended diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) measures.
Caucus chairwoman Yvette Clarke (D., N.Y.) said Trump's pledge to eliminate DEI hiring practices was a "purge of America's minority employees."
The Left's so-called Resistance has so far failed to materialize in Trump's second term, with only about 300 people showing up to protest the president's January 20 inauguration.
But Trump faced major protests throughout his first term, such as the 2017 Women's March, which the Washington Post described as "likely the largest single-day demonstration in recorded U.S. history." While Jeffries and Clarke have both said they oppose political violence, Trump's first term was plagued with exactly that.
Nearly 200 agitators were charged for their roles in violent protests against Trump's 2017 inauguration, for example, and Black Lives Matter and Antifa riots gripped the country in 2020. In Kenosha, Wis., a BLM protest devolved into chaos and destruction, damaging at least 100 buildings, leaving 40 completely destroyed. Portland, Ore., faced over 100 nights of protests, many of which were violent and included an attack on a federal courthouse that lasted more than 50 days.
Trump also faced two assassination attempts during his 2024 presidential campaign.