The Republican National Committee wasted no time in launching attacks on Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., blasting him as an “election denier” just moments after he was voted Democratic Leader in the House.
The RNC displayed Tweets from Jeffries aimed at former President Donald Trump in which he repeatedly claimed Trump had not been legitimately elected. Jeffries, 52, became the first-ever African American to hold his post after winning an uncontested election to replace Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who retired from Democratic leadership.
“The more we learn about the 2016 election the more ILLEGITIMATE it becomes,” Jeffries wrote in 2018. “America deserves to know whether we have a FAKE president in the oval office.”
He went on to allege in August 2020 that Trump and his “buddies in the Kremlin” were seeking to steal the 2020 election as well.
HAKEEM JEFFRIES, PELOSI’S LIKELY REPLACEMENT, SUPPORTS COMMISSION TO STUDY SLAVERY REPARATIONS
“History will never accept you as a legitimate president,” Jeffries told Trump in another tweet after the 2020 election.
WHO IS HAKEEM JEFFRIES, HOUSE DEMOCRATS’ LIKELY NEXT LEADER?
“Russia interfered with our election, attacked our democracy, for the sole purpose of artificially placing someone at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. They were successful,” Jeffries once said during a congressional hearing.
Jeffries will officially step in to lead Democrats in their House minority on Jan 3. Jeffries and others will usher in a new generation of leadership for the party, as Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Majority Whip Jim Clyburn–decades-long wingmen of Pelosi’s–also opted to step down.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) arrives to the U.S. Capitol Building on November 17, 2022 in Washington, DC.
(Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Reps. Jim Clyburn (Left) and Steny Hoyer (Right) served as Nancy Pelosi’s allies for decades in the House Democratic caucus.
(AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster / AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
“Leadership is incredibly important,” Jeffries said in a Wednesday statement “When we get an opportunity as diverse leaders to serve in positions of consequence, the most meaningful thing we can do in that space is an incredibly good job.”
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House Democrats also elected Massachusetts Rep. Katherine Clark to serve as Democratic Whip. California Rep. Pete Aguilar was elected to serve as chairman of the House Democratic caucus. Both Clark and Aguilar served in leadership under Pelosi for the past two years.
Fox News’ Haris Alic contributed to this report.
