Did Democrats lose the Protection Racket Media in the Schumer Shutdown? Did the Epstein Light Grenade teach them even more lessons about the ineptitude of party leadership? Suddenly, some media outlets have taken a much tougher line with the spin coming from the Left.
Hakeem Jeffries found that out when attempting to dance around the question of extensions for ACA subsidies today on CNBC. Host Rebecca Quick ripped Jeffries for dodging her questions about working with Republicans on a short-term extension rather than demanding a longer-term one, and accused Jeffries of attempting to kill talks in order to put the blame on Republicans for the subsidy reductions. Jeffries took great offense after Quick clearly exposed the strategy, and Quick was not having any of Jeffries' spin (via Mediaite):
Incredible exchange here as Hakeem Jeffries gets IRATE with CNBC’s Becky Quick for daring to press him on his robotic ACA talking points:
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) November 21, 2025
Quick: *Cuts Jeffries off to try to make him actually answer a question*
Jeffries: “You can ask the question, I’ll provide the answer!"… pic.twitter.com/gegocDMQja
REBECCA QUICK: If this is something that you want to satiate, if you want to get done, you are going to need at least some Republicans to come over, why not start with a one-year extension or potentially even a two-year extension?
HAKEEM JEFFRIES: Well, Leader Schumer offered a one-year extension in the context of trying to end the Trump Republican shutdown.
QUICK: That’s different. I’m talking about what you have now. Let’s not go back to what’s done in the past and what has not been extended. If you want to get something that it has actually done, you need to do something that will have bipartisan effect.
JEFFRIES: You can ask me the question. I’ll provide the answer.
QUICK: Answer the question instead of going back.
JEFFRIES: I’m providing an answer in order to provide context. Republicans have repeatedly refused to take yes for an answer. It was a very reasonable multi-year extension that was offered. It was one year straight extension, plus a multi- year process through a bipartisan commission to more permanently resolve the Affordable Care Act issue. So having that context is absolutely important, regardless of what you may think.
QUICK: It’s important context to make me realize that I don’t think you want to get a deal done. I think this is something where you’d like to see the rates go higher and allow the Republicans to hang themselves with that. Is that the answer? Is this politics?
JEFFRIES: That’s absolutely a ridiculous assertion, and really shame on you for saying that.
Translation: Yes, that's exactly our strategy, and shame on you for exposing it. Jeffries tries to claim that Chuck Schumer offered a one-year extension during the shutdown, and that Republicans didn't take it, while laughably calling it the "Trump Republican shutdown," no less. Quick shrugs that off as old news to press Jeffries on the point, but it's worth considering. If a one-year extension was good enough two weeks ago, why is it unreasonable now? What changed?
The answer is: nothing. Nothing changed, especially not the strategy to obstruct negotiations and stick Republicans with the blame for the expiration of those subsidies. Jeffries' refusal to address that point is all the evidence needed to prove the validity of Quick's point.
Jeffries then insists he wants a "bipartisan deal," but Quick exposes Jeffries as a demagogue again:
JEFFRIES: Listen, this is not a partisan fight for us, it’s a patriotic fight. We’re fighting for every constituent, even if Republicans aren’t necessarily fighting for their own constituents. We want to find a bipartisan path forward. And that is what we’ve repeatedly indicated we want to do. Like, we want sit down and have a reasonable discussion, find common ground to address this issue. Now, Republicans said in the House they were willing to deal with the Affordable CARE Act tax credit issue after the government funding agreement was reached. Well, now the government shutdown is over and there’s still been no conversations with House Republican leaders despite- Mike Johnson never —
QUICK: Mike Johnson never said that. The leader never said that. You do have Republicans though who would agree with you on something if it was actually bipartisan in nature. That’s what I’m trying to get at.
This may have been the most adversarial interview Jeffries has ever done with a mainstream media outlet. It's not as if CNBC is part of Newmax or Fox, either. CNBC still operates under NBC News, unlike the former MSNBC and now M-SNOW, from which NBC News has distanced itself by a parsec or two. Quick isn't exactly known as a partisan either, mainly sticking to economic news and policy at CNBC and at the Wall Street Journal, where she also covered international news and policy.
Quick, however, knows bull puckey when she hears it. Her disgust at the smell and her tough questioning of a clearly unprepared Jeffries may signal that the rest of the media has begun to reconsider its normal role of narrative amplifiers for the Democrat Party. Or at least we can hope that a reconsideration is taking place.
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