CHICAGO – House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) stirred the crowd at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday night, delivering a rousing speech that swung between high praise for Kamala Harris, as a visionary leader, and attacks on Donald Trump, as a threat to traditional American freedoms.
In his first major appearance since becoming House Democratic leader, Jeffries used his primetime slot to portray Harris as a fighter for working people, while painting Trump as a danger to the middle class, reproductive rights and the workings of American democracy.
The sweeping speech was part sermon, part pep rally for Harris, and part attack on Trump, who he characterized as “a chaos agent who is focused on himself.”
In a moment that drew roars of approval, Jeffries compared Trump to a kind of stalking menace who was rejected by voters in 2020 but just didn’t get the message.
"Donald Trump is like an old boyfriend, who you broke up with but he just won't go away. He has spent the last four years spinning the block, trying to get back into a relationship with the American people,” Jeffries said. "Bro, we broke up with you for a reason.”
Jeffries then ticked off a series of Trump’s top accomplishments in the White House, assailing each one as a step backward for everyday Americans.
The GOP’s tax cuts, for instance, was a “scam” that largely benefited the wealthy, Jeffries said. Trump’s response to the COVID pandemic “failed the country,” he continued. The attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was an effort by Trump “to destroy our democracy,” he added. And the three conservative Supreme Court justices seated under Trump’s watch “destroyed Roe v. Wade” at the expense of women’s freedoms, he charged.
“We broke up with you for a reason,” Jeffries said. “Donald Trump can spin the block all he wants, but there's no reason for us to ever get back together. Been there, done that, we're not going back.”
Jeffries ascended to the top of the Democrats’ leadership ladder at the start of this Congress, filling the void created when Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) stepped out of power after two decades leading her party. He’s fighting now not only to help the party keep the White House, but also to flip control of the House, which would set the stage for Jeffries to become the first Black Speaker in the nation’s history.
After attacking Trump on Wednesday, Jeffries spent a good portion of his speech vowing close coordination between House Democrats and the future Harris administration on a host of the party’s top priorities. That list includes efforts to fight climate change, overhaul immigration laws, bolster Medicare benefits, and reinstate the abortion protections eliminated with the repeal of Roe.
In his signature songful delivery, Jeffries thrilled the crowd again when he laid out a plan for pulling it off, replete with Biblical references.
“Strategize on Sunday,” he said. “Meet the moment on Monday. Take it to ‘em on Tuesday. Work it out on Wednesday. Thank the Lord on Thursday. Fight the power on Friday. Set it off on Saturday. Get a few hours of sleep, wake up the next day, and do it all over again until joy, joy, joy comes in the morning.”
Jeffries’ oratory style is easily recognizable to those who follow him closely on Capitol Hill, but less familiar to those outside the Beltway, and the audience in the United Center jumped to its feet.
Jeffries also offered glowing words for President Biden, who stepped out of the presidential contest under pressure from a host of Democrats on and off of Capitol Hill. Biden “selflessly passed the torch,” Jeffries said, and will be remembered by history as among the most successful presidents of all.
“We could not have asked for a better leader to partner with than President Joseph Robinette Biden,” Jeffries said, “who will go down as one of the most consequential presidents of all time.”
