Ex-Pelosi aide accuses Hakeem Jeffries of squandering anti-Trump opportunities in stunning rebuke

A former top advisor to ex-Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., suggested House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., is not meeting the moment in the current Trump era.“Trump is just giving us all this incredible red meat.I mean, I’ve never seen anything like this before.

It’s like the biggest gift any party has been given by the opposition, and we’re just squandering it, to a degree,” former Pelosi advisor Ashley Etienne told Politico’s Deep Dive podcast.Etienne helped Pelosi oversee Democrats’ messaging during President Donald Trump’s first impeachment.She also previously worked for former Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign.She said Jeffries was “doing well” in many areas and said she had “a tremendous amount of respect” for the New York Democrat but signaled that he was missing opportunities on anti-Trump messaging.“He gave a speech this morning.

I don’t have any talking points in my phone about what he said.And I’m going to be doing TV and this interview all day.

That’s a failure,” Etienne said.“How do you get to discipline if you’re not telling people what the hell you want them to say? At least emphatically, at least tonally.”Jeffries’ allies pushed back against that characterization, pointing out that intraparty friction was taking attention away from Trump’s low poll numbers and Republicans’ policies.“Donald Trump’s approval ratings are plummeting, and he’s bringing House Republicans down with him.Extreme MAGA Republicans have been forced to delay their plans to advance Trump’s centerpiece legislative priority due to intense backlash against their scheme to enact the largest cuts in history to Medicaid and food assistance.

Let’s keep the main thing, the main thing,” Jeffries spokesperson Christiana Stephenson told Fox News Digital.Just Friday morning, Jeffries released a statement hammering House Republicans for having to delay part of their legislati...