A heated confrontation erupted on CNBC Friday morning as anchor Joe Kernen and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) sparred over the ongoing government shutdown, with health care policy taking center stage as the key point of contention.
Kernen initiated the discussion by playing a clip from Senator James Lankford (R-OK), who criticized Democrats for using the shutdown as a negotiating tactic—a strategy Democrats have previously opposed—and pointed to the severe consequences for essential personnel like air traffic controllers and SNAP beneficiaries. Kernen then pressed Jeffries, suggesting Republicans might be dug in, leaving the country “stuck here until some really bad things happen.”
READ: CNBC’s Kernen Rips Jeffries Over Shutdown: ‘You’d Be Going Crazy’ If GOP Did This!’
Leader Jeffries pushed back, arguing Democrats were not responsible for the shutdown. “We haven’t shut the government down. Donald Trump is the president. Republicans control the House and the Senate,” he retorted, not realizing that most Americans know 60 votes are needed to pass the CR.
Jeffries then shifted the focus squarely onto health care, claiming Democrats oppose the Republican spending bill because it continues to “gut the health care of the American people.”
He cited impacts on health services, stating, “Hospitals, nursing homes, and community-based health centers are closing because of Republican policies,” and warned of massive cuts to Medicare and the looming expiration of Affordable Care Act tax credits.
Kernen quickly shot back, accusing Jeffries of “conflating a spending bill with a clean CR,” referring to the 24-page stopgap measure passed by the House to keep the government open.
READ: CNBC’s Kernen And Sorkin Spar Over Trump Voter Sentiment, Immigration
The CNBC anchor pointed to the Senate, where he argued Democrats are solely responsible for preventing the passage of the bill, leveraging the filibuster. Kernen quoted an unnamed Democratic Senator, stating, “this is the only leverage we have to get what we want on health care,” and called the tactic “a bad look!”
Jeffries vehemently denied the claim of using the crisis as “leverage.” He insisted that if Democratic Senate votes are required, then the only path forward must be a “bipartisan discussion about enacting a spending bill that is designed to actually make life better for the American people.”
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