President Donald Trump escalated his feud with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) on Friday during a visit to their mutual home turf of New York State.
Speaking at an event in Rockland County with Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) and New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart, Trump told the crowd how he came up with the mocking nickname of “dumocrat” for Democrats.
“I was thinking about this character we have in the House, his name is Hakeem Jeffries, and he’s a low-IQ person, very low IQ,” Trump said. “I watched what he was saying, and what the horrible things he was saying, and I said he’s a dumb guy. I said, wait a minute, he’s a dumocrat, that’s how I got the name.”
“You take the E out, you don’t use the B,” added Trump. “They’re dumb. They are dumocrats, you know why? Because their policies are dumb. Their policies are very dumb.”
Trump’s comments were only the latest in a monthslong public back-and-forth with Jeffries, who could become a major thorn in the president’s agenda if Democrats retake the House this November.
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Last month, Jeffries responded to Trump calling him “low IQ” by challenging the president to a public debate.
“It’s extraordinary to me that Donald Trump keeps recycling this ‘low IQ’ insult,” Jeffries said at the time. “This from the dumbest president ever to sit at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and there’s not even really a close second.”