WASHINGTON – Democratic House Leader Hakeem Jeffries called Stephen Miller, the White House's new chief of staff, a "stone cold racist" and said he has no interest in working with him when Democrats take control of Congress.
"No," Jeffries said at a Nov. 9 news conference when asked if Miller can be a viable partner for Democrats. "Stephen Miller is a stone cold racist. His track record speaks for itself. And I've got zero interest in working with that kind of individual."
Miller, the leading architect of Trump's anti-immigration agenda, was promoted last week by Trump to replace Susie Wiles as chief of staff following a disastrous midterm election for Republicans in which Democrats won both chambers of Congress and flipped double-digit Republican House
and Senate seats.
The promotion of Miller, known for his combative style and loyalty to Trump, signals that the president has little interest in finding consensus with a new Democratic-controlled Congress.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment on Jeffries' remarks.
Miller, who was previously a deputy chief of staff, has backed Trump's second-term mass deportations of immigrants in the country illegally and efforts to end birthright citizenship. During Trump's second term, he was also a proponent of restrictions on travel from Muslim-majority countries and family separation policies at the southern border.
Democratic critics and civil rights groups have long accused Miller of being a white nationalist, often pointing to white nationalist materials that emails show he sent to the conservative website Breitbart ahead of the 2016 election.
"There’s not going to be any opportunity, certainly, to work with Stephen Miller and what he represents," Jeffries said in a Nov. 8 interview on ABC's "This Week."
Jeffries, known as a political moderate, is expected to become the next speaker in the Democratic-controlled House ‒ and make history as the nation's first Black House speaker ‒ but it won't become unofficial until a Jan. 3 House vote. Although some progressive Democratic House members have not committed to support Jeffries for speaker, the New York congressman has never had a Democratic defection in a speaker vote.
Jeffries has previously used the phrase "stone cold racist" to describe right-wing influencer Laura Loomer and former Trump strategist Steve Bannon.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jeffries calls new WH chief of staff Stephen Miller a 'stone cold racist'
