Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) was elected on Friday as speaker once more, though it took some time in what was a very long first round of voting. Once the votes were official, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) gave remarks before officially introducing Johnson and handing him the gavel. There were certainly some memorable parts of his speech, especially when it comes to his claim about "election deniers" and the party they belong to.
At one point, Jeffries thanked President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris--whose administration is coming to an end soon--for their public service, prompting a standing ovation from the Democratic members. He then went on to acknowledge that President-elect Donald Trump won the election last November, which this time was met with a standing ovation from Republican members.
"Thank you for that very generous applause," Jeffries quipped, evidently trying to be funny. "It's okay, there are no election deniers on our side of the aisle," he continued, drawing more reaction, including another standing ovation from Democrats. That part, however, did not seem to be a joke.
Unbelievably, Jeffries himself even posted such a clip.
There are no election deniers on our side of the aisle. pic.twitter.com/2gmBIymaZF
— Hakeem Jeffries (@RepJeffries) January 3, 2025
Such a claim could hardly be further from the truth. While it may be refreshing that Jeffries acknowledges now that Trump won the 2024 election, he was singing a much different tune when it comes to Trump winning his first term in 2016. Jeffries posted to social media how 2016 wasn't actually a legitimate election, and that there was a "FAKE president in the Oval Office," meaning Trump, complete with "#RussianInterference."
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There's not only Jeffries' own social media posts to prove he was lying on Friday, but several minutes of footage when it comes to his own remarks.
Meet Election Denier Hakeem Jeffries — the new leader of the House Democrats. pic.twitter.com/vCh19NsLQx
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) November 17, 2022
REMINDER:
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) October 25, 2023
House Democrat Leader Hakeem Jeffries is an Election Denier pic.twitter.com/ZhqkmJALlm
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries: There are no election deniers on our side
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) January 3, 2025
Reality: 24 straight minutes of Democrats denying election results
Oops pic.twitter.com/EMr1B7gzEv
Jeffries isn't alone when the Russian interference nonsense. Now Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) peddled the Russian collusion hoax for years, and was even censured for it in June 2023.
The election denialism from Democrats goes back even further. Former Gov. Terry McAuliffe not only served as governor of Virginia from 2014-2018, and also ran unsuccessfully in 2021, but he was chair of the DNC for 2000. McAuliffe didn't merely continuously hammer the claim that George W. Bush wasn't the duly elected president following the 2000 election, but leading up the 2004 election, when Bush ran for and won reelection.
Even more shameful is that McAuliffe desperately tried to go with the election denialism angle for his 2021 run. The Virginia constitution prevents governors from serving consecutive terms, so McAuliffe ran again in 2021. He made Trump and election denialism a constant theme, and even foolishly and falsely tried to claim now Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) didn't acknowledge Biden as the legitimate president when he very much did so.
Not only did the election denier accuse his opponent of engaging in election denialism, he campaigned with a fellow election denier, failed gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams.
Just as election denialism overall is nothing new for Democrats, addressing it in such a way is nothing new for Jeffries in particular.
In October of 2023, when Johnson won his first term as speaker to replace former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), who had been ousted weeks prior, Jeffries similarly made remarks about election deniers.
"Let me conclude with an observation about the state of our democracy," Jeffries said, as he wagged his finger. "Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election. He’s doing a great job under difficult circumstances and no amount of election denialism will ever change that reality. Not now. Not ever. Such remarks prompted jeers from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and now former Rep. George Santos (R-NY).
These weren't even the only memorable remarks from Jeffries on Friday, and for the wrong reasons. When he meant to say "we will fight hard for the freedom to vote," he had a slip of the tongue and instead said "we will fart hard" before correcting himself. Such a line was even a trending topic over X.
Hakeem Jeffries: “Will will fart hard…for the freedom to vote!” pic.twitter.com/TISjOuFMly
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) January 3, 2025
https://t.co/qbwXjYiYbd pic.twitter.com/caXDeYmdVJ
— Joe Concha (@JoeConchaTV) January 3, 2025
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries: There are no election deniers on our side
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) January 3, 2025
Reality: 24 straight minutes of Democrats denying election results
Oops pic.twitter.com/EMr1B7gzEv
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