A petition calling on House Democrats not to support House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries as the next Speaker has hit 500,000 signatures, according to its creator.
It follows the Democrats’ dramatic midterm election victory that saw the party flip both the Senate and the House of Representatives, which will lead to a new Senate Majority Leader and Speaker of the House.
The petition, which labels Jeffries part of the “Democratic establishment,” suggests Democratic leaders are likely to remain under pressure from their party’s left-wing over both personal and policy choices. It was created by Nicole Whitted, an author and Democratic supporting social media creator with over 210,000 followers on TikTok.
For those who don’t want to give newsweek a click: https://www.change.org/p/house-democrats-choose-a-new-speaker
Just keep in mind that online petitions are performative at best. At worst, they give people a false sense of accomplishment and they end up doing nothing else.
Go ahead and sign it, it never hurts, but then call, AND send an email to your Congressional Rep and Senator. That has a bigger impact.
It’s still something to give a reference of how voters feel and to be able to say “see, you are ignoring the will of your voters”