House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said that his party will stop President Trump from trying to take over and steal the upcoming midterm elections. Jeffries made this strong statement as the White House pushes for Republicans to control the voting process.
According to The Guardian, Jeffries directly responded to Trump’s suggestion that Republicans should “take over the voting.” He said Trump’s goal is to “try and nationalize the election, translation: steal it. And we’re not going to let it happen.” This accusation shows how intense the political fight has become.
The US Constitution gives individual states the power to set their own election rules. While Congress can pass laws for federal elections, the president has no constitutional authority over how elections are run. Jeffries stressed that the election “is going to be conducted like every other election where states and localities have the ability to administer the laws.”
Trump’s actions raise serious concerns about election interference
President Trump has been questioning election integrity for months. His administration has filed lawsuits against several states, claiming they aren’t properly maintaining their voter rolls. Last month, the FBI raided the election office in Fulton County, Georgia, and seized ballots and voter information from the 2020 election. Even though fraud allegations in Fulton County have been proven false multiple times, Trump continues to repeat these claims.
Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, who serves as vice-chairman of the Senate intelligence committee, criticized Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard for being at the Fulton County raid. Warner said Trump is trying to interfere in the 2026 midterms. “We have not been informed of any foreign nexus,” he said.
“The job of the director of national intelligence is to be outward facing about foreigners, not about Americans.” Warner admitted he fears that “now [Trump] sees the political winds turning against him, and he’s going to try to interfere in the 2026 election, something a year ago I didn’t think would be possible.”
Senator Adam Schiff of California shared similar concerns, saying he believes Trump plans to undermine the elections. Schiff predicts that if Republicans lose badly in the midterms, Trump will be “prepared to try to take some kind of action to overturn the result.” Schiff argues that all of the administration’s actions send one message: “We will not tolerate or accept an election that we lose.”
Jeffries said Democrats have already blocked some of Trump’s attempts to gain more power. They stopped a nationwide Republican effort to redraw congressional district boundaries and blocked attempts to federalize the National Guard. Democrats plan to continue fighting both at the ballot box and in the courts. Trump’s foreign policy approach, including how Iran’s tactics limit military options, shows his administration faces challenges on multiple fronts.
Jeffries also criticized Trump for refusing to apologize for a racist social media post showing Barack and Michelle Obama as apes. The White House deleted the post on Friday and blamed a staffer, but the anger continues. “He definitively needs to apologize,” Jeffries stated, calling the video disgusting.
He noted that Trump was “forcefully denounced by people all across the country” and praised Democrats and “a handful of Republicans who finally showed some backbone in pushing back against the president’s malignant, bottom-feeder-like behavior.” Meanwhile, other world leaders face their own diplomatic challenges, as Keir Starmer’s relationship with Trump deteriorates over potentially damaging files.
Published: Feb 9, 2026 03:45 pm