Democrats poised for House majority

Barring a catastrophic midterm polling miss, Democrats are on track to win a majority in the House of Representatives next month.

Jeffries set to make history

If elected, Hakeem Jeffries from New York will be the first Black speaker of the House. He has been in Congress for nearly fourteen years.

An enigma in leadership

Despite nearly fourteen years in Congress and time spent in Democratic leadership, Jeffries remains something of an enigma to many observers.

Trump's racist post sparks response

While being driven to a Democratic donor's house in Palm Beach, Jeffries received an alert that Donald Trump had posted a message to Truth Social depicting Barack Obama and Michelle Obama as apes.

Jeffries breaks his usual calm

Jeffries, known for being calm and deliberate, was legitimately angry about Trump's post. He decided a tweet would not be sufficient and recorded an Instagram video.

The video goes viral

In the video, Jeffries said, "Fuck Donald Trump." He then had second thoughts and asked his social media team to bleep out the word. The video became a social media success.

“Fuck Donald Trump.”

Concern about his mother's reaction

Six days later, Jeffries told journalist Jason Zengerle the story while basking in the social media success.

“You know, but I still haven't heard from my mom, and I'm a little worried about that.”

A calculated political figure

Zengerle says Jeffries is a very deliberate, calculated, conventional political figure operating in a space that does not reward that approach. He is trying to adapt to new rules in fits and starts.

Groomed for the speakership

When Jeffries arrived in Congress in two thousand twelve, the Congressional Black Caucus had started to think they could actually get a speaker.They viewed Jeffries as a potential future speaker and groomed him for it.

Nancy Pelosi's leadership pick

Nancy Pelosi started to think of Jeffries as someone who would be a good member of her leadership team. By two thousand eighteen, it became apparent he could potentially be speaker.

Intentionally standing for nothing

Zengerle says Jeffries intentionally does not stand for anything, which has been key to his success. He avoids being pigeonholed or placed on the ideological spectrum. A former Democratic aide described him as hotel art.

The shutdown victory

During the shutdown, Jeffries insisted Democrats make it about one issue: healthcare. Democrats' polling numbers went up while Trump's and Republicans' went down, marking Jeffries' greatest success as minority leader.

Trump takes notice on Truth Social

Trump started posting about Jeffries on Truth Social with usual insults, calling him low IQ and a thug. Trump seems to be paying more attention to Jeffries now than he was before.

Ready but unchanged

Jeffries believes he is ready to go toe to toe with Trump. He will talk about affordability, corruption, and the so-called president in his stilted, rehearsed, steady fashion.

Same Jeffries as speaker

Zengerle says Jeffries will not become a new person if he becomes speaker. He will perform the same way rhetorically as before, though it will take him a while to figure out how to do…

“I don't think you're going to see a new Hakeem Jeffries if he's speaker. I think he's going to, especially rhetorically, perform the same way he has before.”