House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) is having a rough go of it these days. Since taking over the role in 2023, he has witnessed the loss of the House and the Oval Office and the failure to flip the Senate. He tried to protest against Republicans on the steps of the Capitol in April with his buddy Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), but no one cared and virtually no one showed up. On Thursday, he delivered a mind-numbing eight-hour speech to delay the vote on the One Big Beautiful Bill, only to watch the measure pass soon after he was done droning.
His leadership has many Dems wishing ol' Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) would come back and take the job.
Jeffries’ latest dilemma is how to deal with socialist darling and New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, who beat former disgraced Gov. Andrew Cuomo in a June primary. Not only has Mamdani exhibited antisemitic tendencies and offered up downright Marxist policy ideas, but he admits that he identified as “Black or African American” and “Asian” on his college app for Columbia University.
Asked directly what he thought of that, the brave minority leader… ducked. He just completely changed the subject. This is what passes as leadership in today’s Democrat party, folks:
Soul Man?
— Conservative Brief (@ConservBrief) July 6, 2025
The Rev. Al Sharpton questions Democrat Rep. Hakeem Jeffries about his thoughts on NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani claiming on a college application he was African-American... Jeffries IMMEDIATELY pivots off the topic:
"I think to me, the issue that we have to… pic.twitter.com/KBsbn5NElL
Related: Trump Keeps Winning - How Much Longer Can Jeffries Hold on As Dems Rack Up Losses?
Hakeem Jeffries Reemerges, Doubles Down on Democrats' Big Lie About OBBB and the American Dream
Rather than condemn the apparently dishonest act or criticize Mamdani for his earlier refusal to decry the phrase “globalize the intifada,” Jeffries apparently just pulled a section from his eight-hour marathon House speech. MSNBC host Rev. Al Sharpton asked him, “Is this a real issue to you? Jeffries just brushed right past:
Rather than answering whether it is an issue or commenting on the substance of the story or the criticisms, or even on the publishing of an article based on material obtained by a politically motivated hacker, Jeffries instead offered essentially the same generic response he’s leaned on for most of the controversies surrounding Mamdani.
“I think to me, you know, the issue that we have to deal with in New York City, which our Democratic nominee did talk about extensively during the primary campaign, is affordability,” he said, before going on at length on broad political issues he’s focused on in the city.
Sharpton did not follow-up on the lack of response.
“Sharpton did not follow-up on the lack of response.” Now, there’s a stunner for you.
While I heavily criticized "Speaker Emerita" Pelosi in the past, it’s hard not to admit that she was at least good at the job (for Democrats). My guess is that, if she had been asked the same question, she would have appealed to the base and ripped anyone who criticized Mamdani as a racist, and a good portion of her voters would have bought it hook, line, and sinker. I doubt she would have just sidestepped the issue in such an awkward, obvious fashion.
Jeffries is just not up to the job. That being said, conservatives are perfectly happy to see him stay in it for as long as he can and continue to lose on issue after issue.
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