On campaign trail, Jeffries says Republicans are 'divorced from reality'

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries told the Associated Press in Toledo that his party's standing ahead of the Nov. 3 midterms remains solid, and he rejected Speaker Mike Johnson's suggestion that voters will repeat their 2024 choices. Jeffries called that view detached from reality. He was in Ohio to boost Rep. Marcy Kaptur, whose district is pivotal to which party controls the House. Trump carried the seat, and Republicans want it back; Kaptur beat Derek Merrin two years ago, and he is running against her again, according to PBS NewsHour.

Jeffries also condemned President Donald Trump's late-Friday move to waive sanctions on Russia that were set to begin Sunday. Congress had approved the package, named for Lindsey Graham, to support Ukraine against Vladimir Putin's invasion, and Trump had signed it only a month earlier. Jeffries said House members of both parties would work on a replacement the president could not waive. Kaptur, who founded the Congressional Ukraine Caucus and represents many Ukrainian Americans, said Trump had sided with Putin.

Johnson said on Fox News that several colleagues have voiced worries, that he had not yet spoken with Trump, and that the consequences deserve careful thought.

Summarized by PolitiKool from PBS NewsHour’s reporting. Read the full story at PBS NewsHour →