'Vengeance is mine': Citing Bible, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries talks midterm election hopes
House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., linked the Democrats’ midterm election hopes with divine vengeance during a podcast with a former CNN anchor indicted for storming a Minneapolis church service earlier this year.
Jeffries, 55, made the comments during Don Lemon's eponymous podcast released April 4, in which he responded to Lemon's question about mounting challenges in the Trump administration ahead of the midterms in November.
After pointing to what he called the “failed policies by [President] Donald Trump and his administration and Republicans," Jeffries added, “We're battling them on the economy, battling them on healthcare, battling them on ICE, battling them on their reckless war of choice in the Middle East. And we're going to continue to keep our foot on the gas pedal.”
“Does this give you some degree of satisfaction?” Lemon asked.
“Well, this is Holy Week and ‘Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord,’” replied Jeffries, citing a verse from Deuteronomy 32:35 and quoted in Hebrews 10:30 and other New Testament passages. “But, you know, as someone who grew up in the Cornerstone Baptist Church, we put these things in God's hands, and it tends to work out while at the same time doing what we have to do.”
The 2026 midterm elections will determine which party controls Congress for the last two years of Trump’s second term, and both chambers are up for grabs. All 435 seats in the Republican-controlled House and 35 seats in the Senate will be on the ballot this fall.
Jeffries also pointed to the firing of former U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, whom Jeffries called a “disgrace.” Under Bondi, more than 30 people — including Lemon — have been charged with civil rights violations for storming Cities Church in Minneapolis during a Sunday morning service in January to protest a pastor who also works for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“Listen, Pam Bondi is a disgrace. OK? I mean, she violated her oath of office. She weaponized the Department of Justice, as you very well know. She deserved this,” said Jeffries. “She should have never been confirmed. Shame on those Republican senators.
“But we're going to continue to hold her and others accountable, particularly in the aftermath of Democrats taking back control of the House in November,” he added.
In February, Lemon, along with eight others, was charged with conspiracy against the rights of religious freedom and an attempt to injure while exercising religious freedom. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Prosecutors say Lemon “physically obstructed” congregants at Cities Church when they attempted to leave the church following the disruptive protest in which parents also reported being unable to access their children because protesters were blocking their access to Sunday school classes.
On Jan. 30, the day of his arrest, then-AG Bondi wrote on social media that Lemon and three others were taken into custody “at my direction” in connection with what she called a “coordinated attack” on Cities Church.
