Top Dem Insider Shreds Hakeem Jeffries Over His Weak Leadership [WATCH]

Ashley Etienne, former communications director for Vice President Kamala Harris and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, delivered a scathing critique of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries during a podcast appearance Thursday, accusing him of ineffective leadership, disorganized messaging, and failing to unify House Democrats in opposition to President Donald Trump.

Etienne, who previously ran Pelosi’s anti-Trump communications team, made the comments during an episode of Politico’s Playbook Deep Dive.

Knives Out: Democrat Insider Slams Hakeem Jeffries for Weak Leadership

Temu Obama is getting called out!
It’s getting fun to watch.

In a podcast for Politico’s Playbook Deep Dive this week, political adviser Ashley Etienne said that the New York Democrat “hasn’t shown… pic.twitter.com/ou96CFf5eJ

— NWRain-Judi (@RYboating) May 2, 2025

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Citing conversations with multiple House Democrats, she described Jeffries as overly cautious, slow to act, and lacking control over his caucus.

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“If you don’t have coordination, you’ve just got words on a paper that you’re calling talking points,” Etienne said.

“It’s meaningless. And I think that’s where we are right now.”

Etienne said she’s heard from Capitol Hill sources that Democratic leadership has intentionally tried to move away from the Pelosi model, distancing itself from the former speaker’s style and strategies.

“I was hearing from leadership staff that the leadership on Capitol Hill right now wants to sort of move away from that Pelosi era — that they … don’t want to embrace anyone or anything that’s like Pelosi,” Etienne told Politico’s Rachael Bade.

“Which I just think is the dumbest s-h-i-t ever.”

While Etienne credited Jeffries with some messaging skill, she questioned his ability to make timely and effective decisions.

“What I’ve been hearing from members is that, to sort of sum it up, he thinks long, too long and wrong about things,” she said.

“He takes too much council and then takes too long to make a decision. Which says that maybe you don’t trust your gut in the moment… It might also suggest maybe you don’t have a handle on the caucus, or you don’t have a handle on how to actually land some punches on Donald Trump.”

Former Pelosi adviser @AshleyEtienne09 gets candid about Dems’ read on Jeffries as a leader.

“What I’ve been hearing from members is that… he thinks long, too long, and wrong about things,” she tells our @rachaelmbade on Playbook Deep Dive.

Full episode:… pic.twitter.com/np0st1TB7E

— POLITICO (@politico) May 2, 2025

Jeffries has reportedly faced criticism from within his party for lacking a cohesive strategy to counter President Trump’s policies and public messaging.

Etienne pointed to Democrats’ disjointed protest during Trump’s joint address to Congress in March as an example.

“I thought the 50 different protests during his joint address was embarrassing,” she said.

“It was a T-shirt, it was a paddle, it was a walkout. The reality is, you’ve gotta learn when to pull the trigger on some of these tactics… He asked for no protests, and what did they do? They protested in fifty different ways to the point in which it was just an ineffective protest.”

During that address, several Democrats refused to clap, held up signs, and in one case, Rep. Al Green (D-TX) was removed from the chamber by Speaker Mike Johnson after repeated disruptions.

Etienne also criticized the lack of coordination on Jeffries’ communications strategy.

On the same day of her podcast appearance, Jeffries had delivered a speech marking President Trump’s first 100 days in office.

According to Etienne, no press release was distributed from Jeffries’ office to help shape media coverage or prepare Democratic surrogates.

“I’m going to be doing TV and this interview all day. That’s a failure,” she said.

“How do you get to discipline if you’re not telling people what the hell you want them to say?”

She added that Jeffries’ comments earlier this year at a press conference—where he stated Democrats have “no power” in the minority—signaled a broader issue with his leadership approach.

“It said to me that he’s not seeking out the answers to that actual question which is what powers do I have in the minority? What can I actually do?” Etienne said.

“Trump is just giving us all this incredible red meat… and we’re just squandering it.”

The National Republican Congressional Committee seized on Etienne’s remarks.

In a statement, NRCC spokesman Mike Marinella said, “Hakeem Jeffries is the so-called leader of a team that doesn’t fear him, doesn’t follow him, and now, doesn’t even pretend to respect him.”

Jeffries also faced questions this week about Democratic lawmakers traveling to El Salvador in protest of the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national and reputed MS-13 gang member.

Daily Caller News Foundation reporter @AndiNapier CONFRONTS Hakeem Jeffries on Democrat support for Kilmar Abrego Garcia

NAPIER: “Would you encourage any other House Democrats to go to El Salvador to protest against the detention of Abrego Garcia?”

JEFFRIES: *Starts talking… pic.twitter.com/bPySmjnNQA

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) April 28, 2025

The Daily Caller News Foundation asked Jeffries whether he had advised members on the trips. His office later denied any involvement, calling the reporting “a complete and total fabrication.”

At a Thursday press conference, when asked whether he supports future trips to El Salvador by House Democrats, Jeffries responded, “We’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”

Marinella issued another statement following Jeffries’ remarks: “Hakeem Jeffries greenlit a trip to support an illegal immigrant and alleged MS-13 gang member, then turned around and threw his own members under the bus when it blew up in his face. Now he’s acting like he had nothing to do with promoting an alleged domestic abuser as their poster child. This is what Democrat ‘leadership’ looks like.”

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