Hakeem Jeffries: Right Wing Populism Is ‘Anchored’ in Trying to Blame Others for Our Ills in Society

GOLDBERG: "Congressman, it's Jeff Goldberg from 'The Atlantic.' I want to stay on something David was talking about and quote Prime Minister Tony Blair who was just here on set a few minutes ago. He said that left-wing populism will always be defeated by right-wing populism. I've been talking to a few members of the Democratic House freshman class, not the three we all know about but among the 50 or more we don't know that much about, and there is this anxiety about too much of a move to the left. Do you credit Tony Blair's analysis of that trend possibly causing you problems down the road?"
JEFFRIES: "I don't, in part because I think the fundamental goodness of the American people will always triumph over efforts to try to divide us. And right-wing populism essentially is anchored in the principle of trying to blame others for the ills that we face in our society. And as long as we can authentically communicate to the American people that we have their best interest at heart, that we understand there's real economic anxiety in urban America, suburban America, rural America, Midwestern America, because of the globalization of the economy, poorly negotiated trade deals, the outsourcing of good-paying American jobs, the decline of unionization, and the threats posed by the rise of automation, and have real proposals, big ideas to solve those problems, I think that will ultimately triumph."