\n\t\t\t\t\t\tAfter law enforcement thwarted a potential attack on the White House correspondents\u2019 dinner with President Donald Trump and top leaders, Republican commentators accused Democrats of using violent rhetoric.A remark by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., popped up repeatedly on TV and online.”I heard Hakeem Jeffries say this week \u2018its maximum warfare all the time,\u2019” CNN conservative pundit Scott Jennings said April 26. “We have a violent streak on the left and a rhetoric problem on the left.”The Republican National Committee responded on X to Jeffries condemning political violence on a Sunday political show, sharing a clip of his “maximum warfare” remark and asking if he will “apologize and condemn this type of violent rhetoric.” Republican Reps. Andrew Clyde of Georgia and Randy Fine of Florida also criticized Jeffries\u2019 comment, while Tim Young, a conservative pundit, said Jeffries “caused” this.While Jeffries used those words, the soundbite lacks a larger context.Jeffries said “maximum warfare” to describe Democrats\u2019 efforts to secure more House seats after Virginia voters passed a constitutional amendment on redistricting April 21, seen as a win for Democrats.At an April 22 press conference to celebrate the Democrats\u2019 Virginia victory, a reporter asked Jeffries if Florida pursues redistricting, what other seats will Democrats look to next? Jeffries said:”We are in an era of maximum warfare, everywhere, all the time. And we are going to keep the pressure on Republicans at every single state in the union, to ensure at the end of the day, that there is a fair, national map. Because we believe that it is the people who should decide who is in the majority in the next Congress. Not Donald Trump and MAGA extremists.”It wasn\u2019t his first time using the phrase in a redistricting context \u2014 and Jeffries didn\u2019t come up with it. It came up from someone on Trump\u2019s side months earlier in media coverage of state redistricting battles.In August 2025, The New York Times examined the consequences of Trump pushing Texas Republicans to redistrict, leading Democrats to talk about fighting “fire with fire.” The Times wrote: “One person close to the president, who insisted on anonymity to describe the White House’s political strategy candidly, summed it up succinctly: “Maximum warfare, everywhere, all the time.”After the Virginia vote, Jeffries repeated the Trump ally\u2019s words verbatim in an April 21 X post, “Democrats defeated Donald Trump\u2019s gerrymandering scheme in Virginia tonight. We will crush the DeSantis Dummymander in Florida next. Maximum warfare, everywhere, all the time.”Jeffries used the phrase in the title of a YouTube video April 21 celebrating the Virginia redistricting outcome.Where redistricting standsThe outcome of various states\u2019 partisan redistricting efforts is not settled.The Virginia Supreme Court will consider a Republican lawsuit seeking to undo the Democratic-driven redistricting in an April 27 hearing.Florida\u2019s Republican-controlled Legislature starts a special redistricting session April 28. Republican Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves called for a special session on redistricting to be held in May, pegged to the resolution of a U.S. Supreme Court case in which conservatives challenged Louisiana\u2019s two Black-majority districts. It\u2019s unclear whether Reeves\u2019 call would address the state\u2019s congressional map.\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
After law enforcement thwarted a potential attack on the White House correspondents\u2019 dinner with President Donald Trump and top leaders, Republican commentators accused Democrats of using violent rhetoric.<\/p>\n
A remark by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., popped up repeatedly on TV and online.<\/p>\n
“I heard Hakeem Jeffries say this week \u2018its maximum warfare all the time,\u2019” CNN conservative pundit Scott Jennings said<\/a> April 26. “We have a violent streak on the left and a rhetoric problem on the left.”<\/p>\n The Republican National Committee responded <\/a>on X to Jeffries condemning political violence on a Sunday political show<\/a>, sharing a clip of his “maximum warfare” remark and asking if he will “apologize and condemn this type of violent rhetoric.” <\/p>\n Republican Reps. Andrew Clyde<\/a> of Georgia and Randy Fine<\/a> of Florida also criticized Jeffries\u2019 comment, while Tim Young, a conservative pundit, said Jeffries “caused”<\/a> this.<\/p>\n While Jeffries used those words, the soundbite lacks a larger context.<\/p>\n Jeffries said “maximum warfare” to describe Democrats\u2019 efforts to secure more House seats after Virginia voters passed a constitutional amendment on redistricting April 21, seen as a win for Democrats.<\/p>\n At an April 22 press conference<\/a> to celebrate the Democrats\u2019 Virginia victory, a reporter asked <\/a>Jeffries if Florida pursues redistricting, what other seats will Democrats look to next? Jeffries said:<\/p>\n “We are in an era of maximum warfare, everywhere, all the time. And we are going to keep the pressure on Republicans at every single state in the union, to ensure at the end of the day, that there is a fair, national map. Because we believe that it is the people who should decide who is in the majority in the next Congress. Not Donald Trump and MAGA extremists.”<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t his first time using the phrase in a redistricting context \u2014 and Jeffries didn\u2019t come up with it. It came up from someone on Trump\u2019s side months earlier in media coverage of state redistricting battles.<\/p>\n In August 2025, The New York Times<\/a> examined the consequences of Trump pushing Texas Republicans to redistrict, leading Democrats to talk about fighting “fire with fire.” The Times wrote: “One person close to the president, who insisted on anonymity to describe the White House’s political strategy candidly, summed it up succinctly: “Maximum warfare, everywhere, all the time.”<\/p>\n After the Virginia vote, Jeffries repeated the Trump ally\u2019s words verbatim in an April 21 X post,<\/a> “Democrats defeated Donald Trump\u2019s gerrymandering scheme in Virginia tonight. We will crush the DeSantis Dummymander in Florida next. Maximum warfare, everywhere, all the time.”<\/p>\n Jeffries used the phrase in the title of a YouTube video<\/a> April 21 celebrating the Virginia redistricting outcome.<\/p>\n Where redistricting stands<\/p>\n The outcome of various states\u2019 partisan redistricting efforts is not settled.<\/p>\n The Virginia Supreme Court will consider a Republican lawsuit seeking to undo the Democratic-driven redistricting in an April 27 hearing.<\/p>\n Florida\u2019s Republican-controlled Legislature starts a special redistricting session April 28. <\/p>\n