Hakeem Jeffries Snaps at CNBC’s Quick Challenging Him on Dems’ ACA Plan: ‘Shame on You for Saying That!’

QUICK: “Minority Leader Jeffries, let’s talk about that discharge petition. You need 218 votes in the House in order to pass that. You’ve got 214 members in the Democratic caucus, so you only need four House Republicans that have to sign on to it to get this passed. But the idea of saying that this is a three-year extension, instead of a one- or even two-year extension has any potential Republican saying, ‘Forget it, this is dead on arrival.’ That’s the opinion of Representative Don Bacon, he’s a Republican from Nebraska, who has been working with the idea of potentially extending for two years. But three years, they say, is dead on arrival. So if this is something that you want to satiate, if you want to get done, you are going to need at least some Republicans to come over. Why not start with a one-year extension, or potentially even a two-year extension?”
Jeffries: “Well, Leader Schumer offered a one-year extension in the context of trying to end the Trump Republican shutdown. And that was unceremoniously — “
QUICK: “That’s different. I’m talking about what you have now. Let’s not go back to what’s done in the past and what has not been extended. If you want to get something that is actually done, you need to do something that will have bipartisan say.”
Jeffries: “You can — you can ask me the question. You can ask me the question, I’ll provide the answer.”
QUICK: “Answer the question instead of going back.”
Jeffries: “No, no, I’m providing an answer in order to provide context. Republicans have repeatedly refused to take ‘yes’ for an answer. It was a very reasonable, multiyear extension that was offered. It was a one-year straight extension plus a multiyear process through a bipartisan commission to more permanently resolve the Affordable Care Act issue. So having that context is absolutely important, regardless of what you may think.”
QUICK: “Okay, it’s important context to make me realize that I don’t think you want to get a deal done. I think this is something where you’d like to see the rates go higher and allow the Republicans to hang themselves with that. Is that the answer?”
Jeffries: “That’s — that’s absolutely a ridiculous assertion. And really, shame on you for — “
QUICK: “Three years is not going to get passed. So what do you do?”
Jeffries: “Shame on you for saying that. Because we’re fighting — it’s not a partisan issue for us. In fact, the states that are most impacted as it relates to an Affordable Care Act tax credit expiration are all Republican states. We’re talking about West Virginia, Wyoming, Alaska, Mississippi, right, Tennessee. Over and over and over again, we can go through the list.”
QUICK: “That’s why you probably have some Republicans who would sign on if you guys could come up with something that actually looks like a bipartisan deal.”