![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/e8b4cc54ce5830be1a061e99d3fad7cd.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
President Trump\u2019s escalated attacks on House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) have created opportunities for Democrats racing to seize control of the lower chamber in this year\u2019s midterm elections. But they also carry plenty of political risks.<\/p>\n
Trump is\u00a0widely unpopular<\/a>\u00a0on the national stage, and Democrats want to showcase their opposition to the president in an effort to bring voters to their side in November \u2014 a contrast highlighted by Trump\u2019s attacks on Jeffries. But they\u2019re also taking great pains to keep the focus on the universal issues of affordability and healthcare \u2014 and not make the elections just a referendum on Trump, which has backfired on the party in the past.<\/p>\n The dynamics are forcing Jeffries to walk a delicate line in his ongoing feud with the president, straddling the dual roles of street fighter ready to engage Trump\u00a0at his own games and policy leader operating above the fray to promote an agenda Democrats hope will appeal to working-class people across regional divides and political ideologies.<\/p>\n The delicate dance has grown more challenging in recent days as the clash with Trump \u2014 aired publicly and in highly personal terms \u2014\u00a0intensified after a Supreme Court ruling that weakened a landmark voting rights law of the civil rights era.<\/p>\n The high court\u00a0declared last week<\/a>\u00a0that Louisiana\u2019s addition of a second majority-Black congressional district is an unconstitutional racial gerrymander in a 6-3 decision, curtailing Section 2 of the voting law that has long enabled advocacy groups to force new majority-minority districts. Jeffries, a prominent member of the Congressional Black Caucus,\u00a0said the decision<\/a>\u00a0was \u201cillegitimate,\u201d arguing that it was \u201cdesigned to undermine the ability of communities of color\u201d and accusing the court of rigging the midterm elections.<\/p>\n Trump, in a Truth Social post on Sunday, blasted Jeffries, calling him \u201ca Low IQ individual\u201d and urging Republicans to seek ways to remove him from office.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter saying such a thing, isn\u2019t he subject to Impeachment? I got impeached for A PERFECT PHONE CALL. Where are you Republicans? Why not get it started? They\u2019ll be doing this to me!\u201d Trump wrote.<\/p>\n Jeffries, in turn, reposted Trump\u2019s Truth Social post on the social platform X, captioned \u201cJeffries derangement syndrome,\u201d a reference to \u201cTrump derangement syndrome,\u201d a label Trump uses to disparage those who disagree with him.<\/p>\n For Trump, the warning of yet another impeachment is part of a broader message that Democrats harbor irrational hostilities toward him personally, at the expense of the country\u2019s economic health and national security. He\u2019s fighting to energize conservative voters and his MAGA base in an election year when he\u2019s not on the ballot.<\/p>\n \u201cAll they care about is Trump, Trump derangement syndrome,\u201d Trump said Friday during a speech to seniors at The Villages retirement community in central Florida. \u201cWe\u2019re dealing with lunatics.\u201d<\/p>\n Former President Obama, who ranks among the most popular political figures in the country, said recently that his strategy, in the age of Trump, is to resist the temptation to respond to everything the president says or does, even if it outrages most Democrats. If he engaged in every debate, Obama warned, he would lose some of his influence and effectiveness in the drive to return his party to power.<\/p>\n \u201cFor me to function like Jon Stewart, even once a week, just going off, just ripping what was happening \u2014 which, by the way, I\u2019m glad Jon\u2019s doing it \u2014 then I\u2019m not a political leader, I\u2019m a commentator,\u201d\u00a0Obama said in a new profile in The New Yorker<\/a>.<\/p>\n Jeffries doesn\u2019t have the same luxury of remaining on the sidelines. In frequent press briefings and cable news hits, he\u2019s been forced to respond to a continuous blizzard of Trump controversies \u2014 everything from the president\u2019s prolific pardons and deportation surge to the prosecution of political rivals and the Iran war. Still, he\u2019s also been careful to advance the underlying argument that Trump\u2019s greatest threat is to the economic well-being of working-class people \u2014 the same voters Democrats want at their side in November.<\/p>\n \u201cCosts aren\u2019t going down in the United States of America, costs are going up,\u201d Jeffries told reporters recently in the Capitol. \u201cAnd a big part of the problem right now, particularly as it relates to skyrocketing gas prices, is Donald Trump\u2019s reckless and costly war of choice that is making life more expensive for the American people.\u201d<\/p>\n Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.), chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, said on MS NOW\u2019s \u201cThe Weekend\u201d that Trump is \u201cdrowning in his dismal poll numbers and is hanging on [for] dear life.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ll hear more from him as his polls continue to drop, as they are right now,\u201d Espaillat added.<\/p>\n Trump, for his part, has dismissed the trend of rising consumer costs as a political ruse drummed up by Democrats to damage him politically. Gas prices are \u201cnot very high,\u201d he said last month, and affordability is a \u201cDemocratic hoax.\u201d He\u2019s insisted he\u2019s fixing a problem he inherited from President Biden.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s amazing. I come into office and I say, \u2018Wow, look at how high these prices are.\u2019 And the Democrats start screaming, \u2018affordability, affordability,\u2019\u201d Trump said in Florida. \u201cThey\u2019re the ones that caused the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n If there are political perils for Democrats focused too keenly on Trump, there are also risks for Trump dismissing the impact of his policies \u2014 particularly his global tariffs and the war with Iran \u2014 on consumer costs, which have spiked for many staples in the 15 months since he returned to office.<\/p>\n Frank Luntz, a prominent GOP pollster, warned this week that his research reveals that the top anxiety of voters heading into the midterms is the cost of everyday items like gas and groceries, followed closely by the cost of healthcare.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not the economy in general,\u201d Luntz said in an interview with CNN. \u201cVoters are not concerned about jobs, they\u2019re not concerned about economic development [or] economic growth. It\u2019s affordability, affordability, affordability.\u201d<\/p>\n Republicans on Capitol Hill, feeling uneasy about the economic outlook, have increasingly touted Trump\u2019s tax cuts in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act on the campaign trail and are eyeing another reconciliation package this year that would address healthcare reform, housing costs and other GOP priorities.<\/p>\n In the meantime, however, there is also grumbling that their party isn\u2019t doing enough to address rising costs.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we lose the midterms, it will be because we didn\u2019t talk about what moms and dads are worried about when they lie down to sleep at night and can\u2019t, and that\u2019s primarily the cost of living,\u201d Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.)\u00a0said on\u00a0Fox News\u2019s \u201cThe Big Weekend Show<\/a>\u201d in late April.<\/p>\n Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n