What Is Hakeem Jeffries’s Plan for the Midterms, and After?
The Political Scene | The New Yorker
The New Yorker
4.3 • 3.9K Ratings
🗓️ 20 May 2026
⏱️ 42 minutes
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Summary
The New Yorker staff writer Jason Zengerle joins Tyler Foggatt to discuss his Profile of Hakeem Jeffries, the House Minority Leader. They talk about how Jeffries has balanced resisting Donald Trump’s agenda with holding together an increasingly fractious Democratic caucus, and whether Jeffries’ measured persona and “light touch” as a leader are an asset or a weakness in the current climate. They also consider the Democrats’ chances of reclaiming the House in the 2026 midterms—and what Jeffries could realistically accomplish if he becomes Speaker.
This week’s reading:
- “Can Hakeem Jeffries Lead a Democratic Takeover of the House?,” by Jason Zengerle
- “Can the Democrats Take Back the Senate?,” by Amy Davidson Sorkin
- “The Gaza Peace Plan Has Gone Nowhere,” by Isaac Chotiner
- “What Thomas Massie’s Race Says About Trump’s Influence,” by Jon Allsop
- “Benjamin Netanyahu’s War at Home,” by Bernard Avishai
See the Washington Roundtable live at 92NY on June 4th.
The Political Scene draws on the reporting and analysis found in The New Yorker for lively conversations about the big questions in American politics. Join the magazine’s writers and editors as they put into context the latest news—about elections, the economy, the White House, the Supreme Court, and much more. New episodes are available three times a week.
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| 0:52.4 | Hey, Jason. |
| 0:58.1 | Hey, Tyler. |
| 0:59.2 | So you just wrote a long profile of Hakeem Jeffries, who was the House Minority Leader. |
| 1:05.6 | And the story opens with this kind of dramatic anecdote of Jeffreys trying to figure out how to respond to |
| 1:13.0 | a video that was posted on Donald Trump's truth social account that depicted Barack and Michelle |
| 1:19.5 | Obama as apes. Can you tell us a little bit about this opening and why responding to this video |
| 1:26.0 | and kind of calculating the response and what that would look |
| 1:29.6 | like was so important to Jeffreys, like why this was such a critical moment for him and why you |
| 1:34.1 | decided to open the piece with this? Well, I think Jeffries is aware of the Democratic |
| 1:40.2 | basis dislike of him, and that dislike is really based on what they view as him being |
| 1:47.4 | just not strong enough in his opposition to Trump. And I think he knows that that critique exists. |
| 1:52.3 | And I think he has tried to answer that in a number of different ways. I think the second thing |
... |
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