House Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is the latest to lash out at Karoline Leavitt over the White House press secretary’s Thursday attack on the Democratic Party, during which she alleged it is “catering” to “Hamas terrorists, illegal aliens, and violent criminals.” Leavitt’s widely-denounced remarks came as Republicans on Capitol Hill repeatedly targeted the nationwide “No Kings” Day protests set for Saturday as “Hate America” rallies.

“The Democrat Party’s main constituency are made up of Hamas terrorists, illegal aliens, and violent criminals,” Leavitt said on Fox News on Thursday afternoon. “That is who the Democrat Party is catering to — not the Trump administration, and not the White House, and not the Republican Party, who is standing up for law abiding Americans, not just across the country, but around the world.”

Speaking to reporters on Friday, Jeffries blasted Leavitt, but first took aim at a variety of Republicans over controversial issues and what he described as “racist” and “antisemitic” remarks.

READ MORE: ‘Needs an Intervention’: Newsom Scorches ‘Unhinged’ Trump Over San Francisco Threat

“We’ve already seen a rise in political violence and hatred in America,” the Democratic leader began. “And then you’ve got swastikas apparently appearing in the offices of Republican members of Congress.”

“You’ve got Young Republicans engaging in the most antisemitic and racist speech possible,” he continued, referring to a Politico report that drew condemnation of the group’s members.

“Like, this is apparently who many of these people are,” he said.

“They are ripping the sheets off, in plain view of the American people. Their words, their actions, revealing themselves in so many different ways.”

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“And then you got Karoline Leavitt, who’s sick,” he charged. “She’s out of control. And I’m not sure whether she’s just demented, ignorant, a stone-cold liar, or all of the above.”

“But the notion that an official White House spokesperson would say that the Democratic Party consists of terrorists, violent criminals, and undocumented immigrants — this makes no sense.”

“That this is what the American people are getting from the Trump administration, in the middle of a shutdown,” he observed. “So their actions continue to speak for themselves, which is why they’re on the wrong side of public sentiment.”

Jeffries: “You’ve got Karoline Leavitt, who’s sick, she’s out of control. And I’m not sure if she’s just demented, ignorant, a stone cold liar, or all of the above. But the notion that an official WH spokesperson would say that the Democratic Party consists of ‘terrorists,… pic.twitter.com/RXqBFlsujY

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 17, 2025

READ MORE: Johnson Wavers After Agreeing to Debate Jeffries ‘Anywhere Anytime’

President Donald Trump’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, ICE, is reportedly rapidly amassing surveillance technology — including iris scanners, facial recognition software, and drones — which could be used to track not only undocumented immigrants, but also to target members of “Antifa,” which the president has sought to label a “domestic terrorist organization.”

According to a report by The Washington Post, ICE also has technology to monitor individuals’ cellphone activity and location data, physical movements, social media posts — and even software that can hack cellphones remotely.

Some of the tools ICE has acquired include “cellphone location software that can enable the tracking of a phone’s movements without a court warrant.” The Post added that “federal contracts show ICE has been expanding its fleet of small, remote-controlled drones, which it has said it is using to film protesters.”

READ MORE: ‘Needs an Intervention’: Newsom Scorches ‘Unhinged’ Trump Over San Francisco Threat

“Trump and other administration officials have used the term ‘antifa’ broadly to refer to protesters outside of ICE detention centers,” the Post noted, adding that “documents show that some of the technology may also be used to target what the administration regards as anti-ICE extremist groups.”

In his September executive order, President Trump alleged, “Antifa is a militarist, anarchist enterprise that explicitly calls for the overthrow of the United States Government, law enforcement authorities, and our system of law.  It uses illegal means to organize and execute a campaign of violence and terrorism nationwide to accomplish these goals.”

According to the Brennan Center for Justice, as “both former FBI Director Chris Wray and the Congressional Research Service have explained, antifa is not a group or an organization, but a decentralized movement.”

ICE’s acting director Todd M. Lyons recently vowed to use special agents and criminal investigators “to track the money” and “to track these ringleaders.”

The Post added that “Democratic lawmakers, civil rights watchdogs and former officials have expressed concern that ICE now has a green light not only to monitor immigrant communities, but also to carry out broad surveillance of Americans exercising their First Amendment right to oppose government action.”

“I’m extremely concerned about how ICE will use spyware, facial recognition and other technology to further trample on the rights of Americans and anyone who Donald Trump labels as an enemy,” said Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) in a statement to The Post.

READ MORE: ‘Deliberate Incitement’: Outrage as White House Claims Dems Cater to ‘Hamas Terrorists’

Image via Reuters 

California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom blasted President Donald Trump over his seemingly arbitrary threat to deploy the U.S. military to San Francisco. The president pointed to what he called out-of-control crime and described the city as a “mess,” but state and local leaders — vowing to “resist” his efforts — say his allegations are baseless.

The Guardian on Thursday characterized the president’s claims as “hyperbolic,” and reported that San Francisco “is on track to have the lowest number of homicides in more than 70 years, according to a recent San Francisco Chronicle analysis.”

“The president,” Newsom said to reporters at a press conference announcing state-sponsored $11 insulin, “his latest assertion that he was going to come to San Francisco — on what basis? He didn’t even claim — there’s no pretext anymore. Let’s disabuse ourselves that there has to be a pretext with Donald Trump, that there’s anything that would justify that.”

“There’s no existing protest in a federal building,” the governor explained. “There’s no operation that’s being impeded. I guess it’s just a ‘training ground’ for the President of the United States,” he said, invoking Trump’s earlier words suggesting how the military should look at American cities.

California Democratic State Senator Scott Wiener on Wednesday said, “Contrary to Trump’s lie, no ‘government officials’ here have requested federal occupation. We don’t need Trump’s authoritarian crackdown in our city. Bottom line: stay the h– out of San Francisco.”

Newsom called Trump’s threat to militarize San Francisco “grossly illegal” and “immoral.”

State Attorney General Rob Bonta threatened to take the Trump administration to court if the President sends the National Guard to San Francisco.

“It’s rather delusional,” Newsom said of Trump’s threat.

“And increasingly, this president appears unhinged, unmoored by reality and facts, seems listless,” he charged. “He seems, dare I say, in decline — cognitively — and, dare I say, forgive me? Perhaps unfair, physically.”

“These are just rantings of someone that needs an intervention,” Newsom added. “Needs some help. Needs to be stabilized, dare I say?”

Newsom: This president appears unhinged… seems listless… he seems, dare I say, in decline—cognitively, and… physically. These are just the rantings of someone who needs an intervention, needs some help, needs to be stabilized. pic.twitter.com/RL2qnhB9Ov

— Acyn (@Acyn) October 16, 2025

Image via Reuters