House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries says, “We're not going to swing at every pitch.”

That is the message as his party navigates the early days of President Donald Trump’s second term, and the deluge of news he frequently unleashes.

Speaking to reporters Friday, the Brooklynite invoked Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge to defend his strategy, arguing it is better for Democrats to pick and choose their fights and focus on a clear message.

“One of the reasons that [Judge is] a great hitter is that he does not swing at every pitch. He waits for the right one and then he swings,” he said. “We're not going to swing at every pitch. We're going to swing at the ones that matter for the American people.”

What You Need To Know

  • House Democratic Leader Jeffries invoked Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge to defend his strategy for how to deal with Trump, arguing it is better for Democrats to pick and choose their fights

  • Jeffries and his Senate counterpart — Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer — are crafting a broad message focused on economics, arguing Democrats are fighting for the middle class while Republicans stand for the rich

  • In the two weeks since he returned to the Oval Office, Trump has once again embraced the bully pulpit of the presidency, effectively commanding the information space
  • Some Democrats — and notably progressives — complain the party and its leaders have failed to adequately respond

In particular, Jeffries and his Senate counterpart — Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer — are crafting a broad message focused on economics, arguing Democrats are fighting for the middle class while Republicans stand for the rich.

It is a line of attack they wheeled out this week when Trump tried to freeze trillions of dollars in federal grants, threatening programs that serve people across the country.

“It was a Republican rip off scheme to steal taxpayer dollars from the American people,” Jeffries said Friday.

“This is a dagger at the heart of the average American family,” Schumer said earlier in the week, at one of several press conferences called to react to Trump’s latest maneuvers. “The Trump administration is robbing Peter to pay the billionaires.”

During the past week, several other New York Democrats held press conferences at home in their districts, also blasting Trump’s proposed spending freeze. 

In the two weeks since he returned to the Oval Office, Trump has once again embraced the bully pulpit of the presidency, effectively commanding the news cycle and the information space.

He issued a tsunami of executive orders that seek to remake the federal government. He pardoned or commuted the sentences of nearly 1,600 Jan. 6 rioters. And he held several impromptu press conferences, including one reacting to the deadly midair crash near Washington, D.C.  

Some Democrats — and notably progressives — complain the party and its leaders have failed to adequately respond. 

“Trump is sowing chaos as a cover for an authoritarian power grab. Meanwhile, Democratic Party leadership has failed to meet the moment,” members of the NYC chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America said in a social media post. 

However, in an interview, Democratic strategist Eric Koch defended the Jeffries strategy, arguing that Trump 2.0 warrants a targeted approach. 

“Trump says a lot of things. He tries to get people to follow different types of balancing balls, because he wants people to get distracted with the other things, rather than focusing on what he's doing,” Koch said.