House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries took aim at President Donald Trump’s Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Friday, unleashing a barrage of personal insults during remarks to reporters as tensions mounted over the ongoing government shutdown.

“You’ve got Karoline Leavitt, who’s sick. She’s out of control,” Jeffries said. “And I’m not sure whether she’s just demented, ignorant, a stone-cold liar, or all of the above,” Fox News reported.

Jeffries’ remarks came in response to Leavitt’s earlier comments accusing Democrats of harboring “terrorists, violent criminals, and undocumented immigrants.” The exchange marked one of the most heated moments yet in a shutdown standoff that has pushed Washington to the brink of paralysis and left hundreds of thousands of federal workers furloughed or working without pay.

“The notion that an official White House spokesperson would say that the Democratic Party consists of terrorists, violent criminals, and undocumented immigrants makes no sense,” Jeffries said. “This is what the American people are getting from the Trump administration in the middle of a shutdown.”

His remarks immediately reverberated through the Capitol, highlighting both the ferocity of partisan anger and the lack of progress toward reopening the government. Reporters noted that Jeffries, typically known for his disciplined tone, appeared visibly angry as he spoke, accusing the White House of “weaponizing hate and disinformation” rather than working toward a bipartisan solution.

Within hours, Karoline Leavitt fired back with a blistering response on social media, accusing Jeffries of lying and deflecting responsibility for the shutdown.

“Hakeem Jeffries and the Democrats are lashing out because they know what I said is true,” Leavitt wrote in a lengthy post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “The Democrat Party’s elected officials absolutely cater to pro-Hamas terrorists, illegal aliens, and violent criminals.”

Leavitt went on to accuse Democrats of siding with radical activists and failing to defend American interests.

“House Democrats voted against a resolution condemning Hamas following the horrific October 7th terrorist attacks,” she said. “Democrats cheered on pro-Hamas radicals while they hijacked America’s college campuses and harassed Jewish students.”

The press secretary also reiterated her familiar criticisms of Democratic immigration policy, which she has long argued fuels crime and instability.

“Democrats opened our borders and allowed tens of millions of illegal aliens into our country over the past four years, including rapists and murderers, because they view them as future voters,” Leavitt continued. “Democrats coddle violent criminals and support soft-on-crime policies like cashless bail that let violent offenders back on the streets to hurt law-abiding citizens.”

Her post concluded with a direct jab at Jeffries himself: “Democrats do NOT serve the interests of the American people. Hakeem Jeffries is an America Last, stone-cold loser. Now open up the government and stop simping to try to get your radical left-wing base to like you.”

Later that evening, Leavitt doubled down on her comments during an appearance on Fox News’ Hannity, where she dismissed Jeffries’ attacks as “typical Democratic hysteria.” “They can’t handle being called out for their failures,” she said. “They don’t want to talk about inflation, crime, or the border. So they attack me personally. That’s the Democrat playbook.”

Political observers noted that Jeffries’ outburst was highly uncharacteristic. Known for his careful messaging and focus on institutional decorum, the Minority Leader’s decision to launch such an aggressive, personal attack suggested the mounting strain Democrats are feeling as the shutdown stretches into its fourth week.

Behind the scenes, aides for both parties describe negotiations as “frozen,” with little trust remaining between the White House and Democratic leadership. The shutdown began after Senate Democrats blocked a Republican-backed stopgap funding bill late last month. The measure, crafted by House Speaker Mike Johnson and backed by President Trump, would have temporarily extended current spending levels through November while negotiations on a longer-term fiscal package continued.

Democrats, however, have demanded that any funding bill include extensions of pandemic-era subsidies for healthcare and housing, as well as additional aid for states struggling with the migrant crisis. Republicans, led by the Trump White House, have flatly refused, insisting on spending cuts and new border security measures instead.

The impasse has left roughly 800,000 federal workers in limbo, shuttered dozens of national parks and agencies, and disrupted everything from food safety inspections to passport processing. Economists warn that if the shutdown continues beyond mid-November, it could shave as much as half a percentage point off fourth-quarter GDP growth.

Jeffries’ verbal assault on Leavitt also coincided with another controversy roiling Capitol Hill. During his press briefing, a reporter asked him about reports of a swastika found drawn onto an American flag pinned to a corkboard inside the office of Rep. Dave Taylor, a freshman Republican from Ohio.

Jeffries said he found the reports “deeply disturbing,” and suggested they reflected a broader climate of extremism fostered by Trump-era politics. “Symbols of hate have no place in the people’s house,” he said. “Unfortunately, what we’re seeing is the byproduct of years of enabling and excusing radical behavior within the Republican Party.”

Rep. Taylor, in a statement, insisted that the offensive symbol was not created by anyone in his office. “Multiple GOP offices have confirmed that they were targeted by an unidentified group or individual who distributed American flags bearing a similar mark,” Taylor said. “The flag in our office was removed immediately upon discovery. No one in my office would ever knowingly display such a despicable image.”

Even so, the episode added another layer of tension to an already volatile environment. As the shutdown drags on, tempers have grown short, and each new controversy seems to deepen partisan distrust.

By Friday night, Leavitt’s exchange with Jeffries had dominated cable news coverage, becoming a proxy for the broader war of words between the Trump administration and congressional Democrats. On MSNBC, analysts called Jeffries’ comments “undisciplined but human,” arguing that his anger reflected “frustration with the administration’s reckless rhetoric.” Conservative commentators on Fox, meanwhile, praised Leavitt’s “fearless pushback,” with host Sean Hannity calling her “the only person in the room willing to tell Democrats the truth to their face.”

The White House issued no formal statement on Jeffries’ remarks, but officials close to Leavitt said privately that she had the President’s full support. One adviser described the Democratic leader’s comments as “a meltdown.” “They’re losing control of the narrative,” the adviser said. “The more Democrats attack Karoline, the stronger she gets.”

For Jeffries, the moment may prove costly. Some Democrats quietly expressed concern that the Minority Leader’s decision to go personal could backfire, allowing Republicans to portray him as unhinged and partisan during a delicate negotiation period. “Hakeem’s job is to stay calm and keep the caucus together,” one Democratic aide told reporters. “That was not a good look.”

Still, others defended him. “Frankly, he said what a lot of people are thinking,” said Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas. “This administration’s rhetoric has crossed every line of decency. Calling it out isn’t an overreaction—it’s leadership.”

The shutdown now stands as one of the longest in U.S. history, and with both sides dug in, there is little sign of movement. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has called for a bipartisan working group to craft a compromise, but Speaker Johnson has rejected the idea, insisting Republicans “will not negotiate with people holding the country hostage for more reckless spending.”

As for Jeffries and Leavitt, their exchange underscores how personal and vitriolic the nation’s political discourse has become. What began as a debate over policy has morphed into open contempt between the parties’ most visible figures.

If the past week is any indication, the coming days will bring more than legislative wrangling—they’ll bring more insults, more finger-pointing, and more evidence of how deeply divided Washington has become.

For now, the Capitol remains gridlocked, the government remains closed, and the war of words between Hakeem Jeffries and Karoline Leavitt has become the latest—and perhaps the loudest—symbol of that stalemate.