Jebreal apologized for her words while maintaining her criticisms of Jeffries. “I am disgusted and horrified that Hakeem Jeffries is taking money from AIPAC amidst Israel’s genocide in Palestine,” she wrote on X. “That said, a term that I used to describe him was inappropriate and offensive and should never have been used. I apologize unconditionally.”

Ali, meanwhile, defended himself and his conduct of the interview, asking viewers to watch “the full exchange where I made it clear that no one should ever use the word monkey, even as a slip of the tongue, because of the racist history.” In the longer clip he posted, he goes back to the “monkey” remark in an attempt at “clarifying” her comments.

Jebreal and Ali also appeared on the Joy Reid Show in an attempt to further address the controversy surrounding her comments. Reid defended them to her audience, saying “Sometimes even our friends can get it wrong. They can stumble over trying to make a point,” blaming a “cultural disconnection” for the offensive remarks. However, many people have rejected Jebreal’s apologies and explanations for her comments.

In short, it appears that the controversy over Jebreal’s remarks about Jeffries, a man likely to become the first Black Speaker of the House, has not gone away. Rather, the insults hurled at Jeffries have overshadowed any substance of the debate about policy toward Israel and Gaza while also leading to conversations about cross-racial and ethnic solidarity, left-wing racism and the type of rhetoric employed against Black political figures.