Are Democrats undermining the leadership of Hakeem Jeffries?

As Democrats piece together a fractured party following Vice President Kamala Harris’ defeat by President-elect Donald Trump, some have questioned who is left to lead the Democratic Party.

MSNBC host Jen Psaki, President Joe Biden’s former White House press secretary and former White House advisor to President Barack Obama, said last week that Democrats are “in the wilderness.”

“There is no clear leader of the party. Joe Biden is gonna be out of office shortly. Kamala Harris just lost the election,” she said.

Other pundits and news outlets have similarly suggested that the Democratic Party has no obvious leader and have questioned its future as Republicans assume a trifecta of power with control of the White House and both chambers of Congress. 

The 2028 Democratic presidential field remains open (Kamala Harris is weighing a comeback) and the Democratic National Committee will elect a new chair on Feb 1. However, suggestions that the party has no leader could be seen as a snub to its minority leaders in the House and Senate, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., respectively. 

Antjuan Seawright, a longtime Democratic strategist and advisor to Hakeem Jeffries, says the questions about the party’s leadership are especially insulting to the 54-year-old congressman, who was elected the first Black House minority leader in January 2023.

“When we’ve been in this political mathematical scenario in Washington, people always viewed the House Democratic leader, as well as the Senate Democratic leader, as the leaders of our party,” noted Seawright in reference to the balance of power in Congress, where Democrats closed the gap in their minority of seats in the House despite losing their majority in Senate to Republicans.

Congressman Jeffries, 54, emerged as the Democrats’ new leader in the House, making history as the first Black American to lead a major party in Congress. 

“The fact that you have the next generation of leadership in place already in Hakeem Jeffries, someone who has proven that he knows how to battle and win in tough environments … for some of us, it’s seen as disrespectful to overlook his leadership and what he’s been able to do to this point,” Seawright told theGrio. Despite Democrats’ failing to win back the House and losing the Senate, he said there were clear “bright spots.”

“We won three seats in New York [and picked up seats in California]. We picked up two seats by way of redistricting, and we flipped a seat in Oregon … you can attribute that to the leader of the House Democratic Caucus,” he said.

“The Democratic leader of the House should definitely be considered as a leader,” said Jamarr Brown, executive director of Color of Change PAC, the political arm of the civil action group founded in 2005. 

“He’s a strong fundraiser. He’s a strong messenger and is willing to go to battle, not just for the Democratic Party, but for people and communities as well,” said Brown, who noted Jeffries worked on “meaningful and historic legislation that should not be overlooked.”

The former executive director of the Texas Democratic Party pointed to the “white consultant class” for the perceived overlooking of Jeffries as a leader of the party.

“[They] choose … versus us just being able to step up, demonstrate our skills, message effectively, and be considered a leader because we have offered our skills and stepped up in space,” he told theGrio.

While Democratic insiders who spoke with theGrio fell short of suggesting Jeffries is being overlooked by the political class because he’s Black, the criticism does also come as some Democrats have called for the party to move away from “woke” policies and identity politics. 

Democratic strategist Joel Payne noted, “The heart of the Democratic Party runs through Black America, and I think that is a generally understood and accepted fact.”

“The turf wars that we are seeing now are common after a tough defeat. The party is handling family business right now, but I think all the key actors understand that there is no path for Democrats to have success in 2026, 2028, and beyond without Black voters,” said Payne.

Another challenge to Hakeem Jeffries’ leadership is the presence of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who served as the Democratic Party’s leader for two decades. Though she no longer officially serves in party leadership, reports indicate she continues to influence behind the scenes, including her role in Democrats urging President Biden to drop out of the 2024 presidential race. 

Brown said while he doesn’t believe Pelosi’s perceived overshadowing of Jeffries is “intentional,” considering she “helped cultivate his leadership within the House structure and Democratic caucus,” he does sense that Pelosi is still navigating the “speaker emerita” role Democrats gave to her after she retired from leadership. 

“We don’t challenge people when they say they’re going to step away … to really step away,” he explained. “I don’t think she’s figured out what that is and how to actually be helpful.”

Pelosi’s tall stature in Congress “can be problematic,” said Brown, “because we need to allow the person who has been elected the leader to lead.”

Political commentator Reecie Colbert argued that while Jeffries may have been elected by his peers as party leader, he must assert himself as such. 

“I think it is time for him to do that the same way that Speaker Nancy Pelosi did it,” said the host of Sirius XM’s “The Reecie Colbert Show.” 

“Power is yours for the taking. And so if a person … [who] is no longer the leader, is able to overshadow you, that’s not an indictment of them,” argued Colbert. “It’s really more so on him to make it known; be a show of force about him being the leader that people should defer to, as opposed to Speaker Pelosi.” 

She added, “That’s not a defense of her. That’s just the way power works. You have to claim it.”

U.S. Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., who is the presumptive incoming chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, described Jeffries as a “very active” member of the Democratic Caucus. She told theGrio, “They all are in deep consultation with leader Jeffries.”

Seawright said Jeffries is “one of the most respected voices we have” in the Democratic Party, telling theGrio, “He will be the general of the army in the front line of resistance as we flow into 2025 and beyond.”

During an appearance last week on “The View,” Congressman Jeffries offered hope for Democrats who are continuing to heal from major defeats in this month’s election.

Reflecting on the 2004 presidential election in which John Kerry lost to President George W. Bush, Jeffries noted that Democrats took back control of Congress two years later, and Barack Obama was elected in the next presidential race.

“I remember seeing a headline from a newspaper in Western Europe saying, America does it again,” said the New York Democrat. “In two years, in four years, if we continue to lean in with the resilience that we’ve always shown, I think we can hope for brighter days, and America does it again.”