It’s official: Hakeem Jeffries is the new Democrat leader in the House, taking over from Nancy Pelosi. Jeffries represents everything towards which the Democrats have moved in the last few years: Race hatred, election denial, peculiar sexual identities, election denier, etc. In other things, though, his stances have been surprisingly decent. It should be interesting to watch him in his new role.

So, what do we know about Hakeem Jeffries? Unless otherwise stated, I’m relying on Jeffries’ Wikipedia entry, which is presumably pro-Jeffries, given that he’s a Democrat:

• He’s credentialed, with a BA in poly sci, an MA in Public Policy, and a JD (i.e., he’s a lawyer).
• He’s a Baptist, something that came up in a 2000 race for the New York Assembly when he compared his beliefs to his opponent’s beliefs as a “practicing Muslim.”
• He wrote the law that ended Stop-and-Frisk in New York, something that arguably is responsible for the increase in crime in New York City.
• He pushed to stop arresting low-level marijuana possession, another policy that may be tied to rising crime in NYC.
• He wants to set up a House committee to investigate paying reparations to the descendants of slaves (something, interestingly, that didn’t make it into Wikipedia.)
• He opposed the Keystone XL pipeline.
• He’s active in the Congressional Black Caucus (he’s the whip), an organization that pushed hard to advance the “hands up, don’t shoot” lie, and he’s attacked the Confederate flag.
• He actively supports the Equality Act, which would make sexual orientation and gender identity legally protected identities.
• He’s a hardcore election denier, having repeatedly called Trump an “illegitimate” president.
• He voted twice in favor of the articles of impeachment against Donald Trump and was one of the House managers for the second impeachment.
• He thought Karen Bass, a communist, would be a good running mate for Biden.
• He actively opposed Trump’s border policies.
• He’s a Democrat party-line voter.
• He’s beloved of the Democrat establishment.

Image: Hakeem Jeffries peddling the “hands up, don’t shoot” lie. YouTube screen grab.

Here are some good things about Jeffries:

• He’s been a staunch Israel supporter, something increasingly rare in the Democrat party.
• He’s been pushing to create a national park in New York honoring the Americans who died on British prison ships during the American Revolution.
• He managed to get additional tax deductions for people donating to organizations supporting the families of Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos, two NYC police officers whom a criminal executed.
• He recommended taking seriously and investigating Tara Reade’s allegation that Biden digitally raped her in the 1990s.

Overall, Jeffries is mostly just a generic modern Democrat, focused on race, sex, Trump hatred, and climate change. Having said that, he has managed to think outside of the leftist box on a few occasions, so there is hope for him. At least, I hope that he surprises us in a good way.