House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries faced questioning from CNN’s Jake Tapper on Wednesday over his party's push to expand Obamacare subsidies to illegal immigrants, a stance that is complicating his party’s defense of the Schumer Shutdown.
🚨 HOLY CRAP! Hakeem Jeffries REGRETS going on CNN, Jake Tapper just embarrassed him. pic.twitter.com/KmdS9gMxJN
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) October 1, 2025
TAPPER: Here's a provision...it shows you want to give illegal aliens healthcare...
JEFFRIES: It's a lie!
TAPPER: It's a lie - BUT, what you support DOES bring back…
Republicans "characterize it as you want to give health insurance to undocumented immigrants. I understand that's not really an accurate depiction," Tapper began.
Jeffries responded plainly, "It's a lie." Tapper proceeded to push Jeffries on the point.
It's a lie, but what you support does bring back funding for emergency Medicaid to hospitals, some of which does pay for undocumented immigrants and people who don't have health insurance. And also, there is this provision, and it's not about undocumented immigrants. It's about people with asylum seekers and people with temporary protected status, et cetera, et cetera, but about their ability to get Medicaid. So they're noncitizens. They're not undocumented. They're not illegal. Why even include that in a bill, knowing that they're going to seize right upon that and use that to message? I understand that when you retake the House, you can get whatever you want passed, but at this point?
Rep. Jeffries argued that his party was simply trying to fight against the "largest" cut to Medicaid, blaming President Trump's Big Beautiful Bill.
Recommended
"You're talking about the subsidies again, but I'm talking about the noncitizens," Tapper replied.
Jeffries again dodged, claiming his party is trying to fund healthcare for nearly 14 million Americans.
"Do you not think that the provisions that provide healthcare for noncitizens muddies that message?" Tapper said.
"No. You're referring to emergency care that some states might administer based on state law. We're talking about federal law. We don't have the ability to change state law," Jeffries replied.
By the end of the interview, Jeffries had offered no clear explanation of why his party might defend providing taxpayer-funded healthcare to illegal immigrants, only vague appeals to protecting healthcare. For CNN to be pushing Jefries on this point is simply another piece of evidence to the fact that the Democrats are shutting down the government for the sake of opposing Trump, not because they legitimately care about hardworking Americans.
Editor’s Note: The Schumer Shutdown is here. Rather than put the American people first, Chuck Schumer and the radical Democrats forced a government shutdown for healthcare for illegals. They own this.
Help us continue to report the truth about the Schumer Shutdown. Use promo code POTUS47 to get 74% off your VIP membership.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member