Hakeem Jeffries Has Already Prepared a House Spectacle for January 6
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is still fighting Jan. 6 as if it’s happening in real time, and in doing so he’s advertising how little Democrats have to say about the country as it exists today.
Nearly five years after the Capitol incursion — after arrests, prosecutions, convictions, congressional investigations, and nonstop media saturation — Jeffries’ answer to inflation, crime, housing costs, and national decline is yet another bit of planned theatrics about a settled historical event. When “leaders” have no solutions, they’re forced to recycle outrage, and that’s exactly what Jeffries’ latest stunt is.
Jeffries’ “Dear Colleague” letter isn’t a roadmap for governing; it’s a political security blanket. Every paragraph is designed to keep Democrats anchored to a moment that absolves them of responsibility for the present. Rather than confront the affordability crisis, border chaos, or institutional failure on his party’s watch, Jeffries retreats to a familiar script where Republicans are villains, Democrats are victims, and performative outrage equates to results.
Jeffries opens his letter with: “I write with respect to the upcoming solemn anniversary of the January 6th brutal attack on the Capitol. Nearly five years ago, a violent mob incited by Donald Trump attempted to halt the peaceful transfer of power. As a result of the extraordinary bravery of the men and women of the U.S. Capitol Police and other law enforcement professionals, the treacherous effort to prevent certification of the results of the 2020 presidential election failed.”
This is little more than rehearsed incantation. Jan. 6 is framed as a “solemn anniversary,” less as history than as a political sacrament Democrats feel obligated to observe annually.
Nearly five years on, the language is frozen in amber — “violent mob,” “incited by Donald Trump,” “peaceful transfer of power” — all familiar, all exhaustive, and all doing no work beyond moral posturing. This is not a call to solve today’s problems; it’s a reminder that Democrats have little more to cling onto than yesterday’s outrage.
Jeffries then pens: “However, the cost was profound. More than 140 heroic police officers were seriously injured and many suffered lasting physical and psychological trauma. Several tragically lost their lives. In the years since that disgraceful day, far-right Republicans in Congress have repeatedly attempted to rewrite history and whitewash the events of January 6th. Our country has been indelibly scarred.”
Look, the suffering of Capitol Police officers is real and deserves somber respect, but Jeffries uses it to justify an indefinite political grievance. At no point does he acknowledge the passage of time, the prosecutions that occurred, or the institutional response already carried out. Instead, Jan. 6 is presented as an open wound that’s never meant to heal, never meant to be resolved — and therefore always politically useful.
Jeffries continues: “Donald Trump promised to lower the high cost of living on day one of his presidency. One year later, costs are out of control, America is too expensive and Republicans believe that the affordability crisis is a hoax. They have done nothing to lower costs for everyday Americans, but are gutting healthcare and enacted massive tax breaks for their billionaire donors.”
It’s almost funny. Suddenly, miraculously, Jeffries remembers that there are real issues — beyond historical whinging — affecting Americans. Inflation, affordability, and cost-of-living pressures are invoked not to propose solutions, but to assign blame.
And make no mistake, the irony is thick. Democrats controlled the White House and Senate during the worst inflation spike in decades, yet Republicans are accused of believing the crisis is a “hoax.” There’s no explanation of how Democrats would lower costs now, only regurgitated talking points about billionaires (many of whom donate to Democratic causes, by the way) and healthcare cuts.
Jeffries then basically jumps the shark: “The toxic priorities of the Republican Party are clear. On day one of his second term, President Trump issued blanket pardons and commutations to the nearly 1,600 individuals charged in connection with the January 6th attack, including hundreds of violent felons who brutally assaulted law enforcement officers. Several of those individuals have been charged with new crimes throughout the country, putting the safety of the American people in jeopardy. A troubling number of the criminals pardoned by Donald Trump have been arrested for child molestation, sexual assault and kidnapping. Republicans own the failed economy, their broken promise to lower costs and the crime spree the dangerous criminals pardoned by the President have visited on our country.”
Jeffries claims Trump’s Jan. 6 pardons unleashed a “crime spree,” citing child molestation, sexual assault, and kidnapping. These allegations are sweeping, inflammatory, and conveniently vague — no numbers, no sourcing, no proportionality. It’s a familiar tactic from the pathetic left: collapse every form of criminality into one amorphous moral horror and lay it at the feet of political opponents. Democrats are not serious people. They’re simps for fear-mongering.
Jeffries wasn’t quite done: “We must never forget the horrors of January 6th and will continue to honor the brave law enforcement officers who were injured and lost their lives defending the rule of law in the United States. To that end, on the fifth anniversary of that fateful day, led by the Honorable Bennie Thompson and the Members of the January 6th Select Committee, House Democrats will hold a special hearing that will commence at 10:00 a.m.”
Look, Mr. Minority Leader. Nobody is saying anything about forgetting Jan. 6. The issue many of us Americans have with the horrific event is the fixation from the left. You all treat Jan. 6 not as a chapter in American history, but as a perpetual justification for empty theatrics. What, exactly, is this hearing going to fix, sir?
Jeffries penultimate paragraph reads: “At the hearing, we will examine ongoing threats to free and fair elections posed by an out-of-control Trump administration, expose the election deniers who hold high-level positions of significance in the executive branch and detail the threats to public safety posed by the hundreds of violent felons who were pardoned on the President’s first day in office. We will also present a panel of Members who wish to share their personal experiences from that horrific day. If you wish to testify, please contact Emily.Berret@mail.house.gov by 12:00 p.m. ET on Friday, January 2.”
This hearing underscores the patent absurdity of this entire letter. At a time when Americans are worried about housing costs, healthcare access, border security, and global instability, House Democrats are planning another retrospective. Not legislation. Not reform. Not relief. But a hearing, because hearings are so clearly easier than actually governing.
Jeffries’ last line is perhaps the epitome of absurdity: “Thank you for your leadership and I look forward to our continued work in the new year to make life better for the American people.”
First of all, what “leadership”? What, exactly, have Democrats spearheaded in recent years that actually benefits Americans?
More importantly, Jeffries’ promise to “make life better for the American people” sounds wonderful, but nothing preceding it supports that claim. There are literally no ideas, no proposals, no metrics for success.
The entire letter is backward-looking, grievance-driven, and consumed by unhinged leftism. If anything, the entire letter reads like a tacit admission: Democrats no longer know how to argue for the future, so they can only cling to the past.
If you’ve noticed that Democrats seemed a little underwhelmed by Christmas this year, this letter makes it clear why.
Jan. 6 has become the left’s favorite holiday — and we’re probably one more “Dear Colleague” letter away from it becoming an actual one.
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