A petition calling on House Democrats not to support House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries as the next Speaker has hit 500,000 signatures, according to its creator.
It follows the Democrats’ dramatic midterm election victory that saw the party flip both the Senate and the House of Representatives, which will lead to a new Senate Majority Leader and Speaker of the House.
The petition, which labels Jeffries part of the “Democratic establishment,” suggests Democratic leaders are likely to remain under pressure from their party’s left-wing over both personal and policy choices. It was created by Nicole Whitted, an author and Democratic supporting social media creator with over 210,000 followers on TikTok.
For those who don’t want to give newsweek a click: https://www.change.org/p/house-democrats-choose-a-new-speaker
Currently at 881,098 signatures, including mine now.
Close to a million signatures now!
This is becoming my copy pasta moment. But Hakeem Jeffries…let’s start with his charisma. His charisma is more akin to that of a Home Depot bag of paver sand. You search through the poorly stacked pile selecting the one with the least holes. Yet, despite that effort, it still spills it’s contents all over the cart on the way to the register. Not a good look. But useful if you are doing what he is good at doing. Laying the foundation for your country to get paved over by corporate donors.
If that does not speak for itself, then consider this. As a potential Speaker, Mr. Jeffries would face the immense challenge of uniting a fractured party that has not managed to maintain a large and diverse tent of voters since Debbie Wasserman Schultz declared Bernie a non-starter. Mr. Jeffries is simply not capable of standing firm in the face of political opposition. Don’t take my word for it. Perhaps, instead, the ever present consumer advocate Ralph Nader may sway you:
More introspection may lead you to ask yourself whether you are up to leading the House Democrats in their immense and immediate tasks of policy and program restorations and adopting our Constitution’s mandated Congressional independence from the Presidency for the protection and advancement of the livelihoods, peace and freedoms of the American people. There is no indication that you are so willing and prepared. Unfortunately.
His record in Congress has not demonstrated the kind of bold, decisive leadership that the position of Speaker demands. Instead, he has often been seen as a cautious, moderate voice. Dare I say, a voice coming from a very real human (I swear) with a spine made of NeeDoh.
Let’s be frank. In times of crisis or when tough decisions must be made, the leader of the Democratic Party and Speaker of the House is not merely about personality. I understand that. Such positions require a deep understanding of the legislative process, the ability to negotiate, and the resilience to withstand the political pressures that come with the position. Jeffries has not consistently shown these traits in his career. For any informed observers, this must raise serious questions about his suitability for such a high-stakes role.
Finally, to convey my firm belief that Mr. Jeffries is not the right person for the leadership role come January, I paraphrase the amazing Forest Whitaker in his role as PFC Edward Garlick in “Good Morning Vietnam”
Hakeem Jeffries sucks the sweat off a dead man’s balls. I have no idea what that means, sir, but it seems very negative to me.
He made secretive deals with Jared Kushner
He’s a centrist in the hardest left house we’ve had in decades
He represents the Democratic elite that lost to Trump in 2024, ushering in the most damaging US presidency in living memory
Yeah, they should tabula rasa all of the old guard before moving forward.
And remember this little thing:
https://vger.to/lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/49344563
27 times different women have come forward and been ignored. The great orange one raped them.
As a part the change we need, Democrats need to move beyond the establishment. I signed it.
Jeffries says the agenda is not about “getting even”, what he’s really saying is he won’t allow any real accountability for criminals because they are fellow politicians. He’s clearly not fit for the job.
There is nothing in the rules that says the speaker has to be a member of the house, so I say we push for a speaker who will bring some accountability to the criminals throughout our government and demand that Democrats elect Jack Smith as Speaker of the House.
Let’s have Jon Stewart as Speaker of the House.
Good point! Does the law say that the Speaker has to be a member of the House?
The constitution does not explicitly say that the Speaker must be a member of congress. However, the Speaker always has been one.
800,000 now
Please, if you are in the US, contact your senators and representatives to urge them to choose better leaders than these milquetoast corporate dems.
What if my senators and representatives are milquetoast corporate dems? Seriously though, there’s only a handful of Dem politicians who don’t take AIPAC money. I don’t think we’re going to get progressive leadership any time soon.
I hear you, I really truly do, but we have to keep pressing. This week has clearly proven that voting still matters and the power remains with the people. The only thing those corporate dems fear more than their corporate masters is the thought of having to find another job. Put the pressure on them and hold them to account. We still have the power, we just have to stay united and use it.
He needs to go. Schumer too. They should no longer be allowed to “lead” us back to hell. i.e. trump.
These soft democratic leaders already showed us who they are, and I’m not interested. Get the Pelosi generation tf on out of here. Them and their stupid stock trading and dumb shit kneeling and wishy wishy nonsense.
Get rid of him and get rid of Schumer. Get rid of anyone who supports Israel in their genocide and their apartheid state.
Get rid
Every two years there is a vote for leadership…
Mainstream media immediately jumped on those two shitbirds as the default, but they have absolutely zero claim.
They don’t reflect the values of Dem voters, and they’re both shitty leaders. There is zero reason to give them leadership, or to keep determining committee chairs based solely off seniority.
People are so used to how neoliberals ran shit for 30 years, they forget there is absolutely nothing making the next congress follow those bullshit traditions.
The petition for Jeffries to not be speaker already has more than 5x as many votes as Jeffries had to get elected
The House Speaker should be AOC. Jeffries will hinder the Democrats for 2028.
it’s got 800k (400k today) signs now anf it’s for holding an election which this article doesn’t say
