House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries demurs when asked about Democrats terrible polls, listlessness

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries danced around questions about the Democrats’ stunning unpopularity in recent polling, and confronted criticism that the party’s direction is rudderless under the second Trump administration.Several Democrats have openly questioned congressional leadership over recent weeks, including Pennsylvania Gov.Josh Shapiro, who openly bashed congressional Democrats last week for “failing to address the real concerns that people have.”“I have no idea what the governor was talking about.

So you’re going to have to ask him for clarification,” Jeffries said on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday when asked about Shapiro’s attack.“Donald Trump’s poll numbers aren’t going up,” he pivoted.“They are coming down, particularly as it relates to his management of the economy.

That’s a direct result of the fact that House Democrats and Senate Democrats have made clear that we are working to drive down the high cost of living.”Jeffries and other top Dem leaders have responded to the so-called “flood the zone” strategy President Trump has deployed by more carefully picking and choosing battles with the new administration.Under his watch, Democrats have attempted to keep the focus on kitchen table issues and portray themselves as the champions of the working class rather than getting ensnared in culture war skirmishes with Trump.But so far, polling suggests that hasn’t done much to help congressional Democrats who have a 21% approval rating compared to 40% for congressional Republicans, per a recent Quinnipiac poll.Much of the dismal marks appear to stem from dissatisfaction within the Democratic Party over its direction, with only 40% of the party approving of Congressional Dems, per the poll.Progressive critics have accused Dem leadership of lacking fighting spirit against Trump, including the strategy of selectively choosing battles with the president in a bid to stay focused on bread-and-butter issues.CNN an...