Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries held a lecture on Friday at the Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts in Oakland, warning about the dangers of President Donald Trump's aggressive budget cutting and "pro-Putin" foreign policies.
Jeffries received a warm welcome inside the lecture hall but was met by protestors outside who claimed he had not done enough to oppose Trump's agenda.
"We don't want President Trump letting his friend take over our government," said Ernestine Wilson of Oakland.
The anti-war group dubbed Codepink criticized Jeffries for his support of Israel's defense sending and for taking money from Israeli lobbyists.
Protesters channted "Hakeem come out. Hakeem come out." Some even said the "Democratic party has been paying lip service to the working class."
Inside the Kaiser Center, Former Oakland Mayor Elihu Harris called out the protesters. He said they need to redirect their energy against the White House's current agenda to "divide and conquer."
"Unfortunately, they're in the wrong place at the wrong time," Harris said.
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Jeffries also called on Democrats to unite.
"Donald Trump is not a king, and we will never bend the knee," he said.
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He added that the Trump administration is trying to "disorient and discourse and dissolution the American people," while Republicans push their agenda that benefits only the wealthier in the country.
"They've done nothing to try to lower the high cost of living [in] the United States of America. No bill, no ideas, no initiatives," Jeffries said.
A recent poll from the Washington Post showed that just 43% of Americans support the president's job.
