[US midterm election] Jeffries, the first black speaker of the House of Representatives who raps... At the forefront of keeping Trump in check (comprehensive)

With the U.S. Democratic Party taking back the Federal House of Representatives in the November 3 midterm elections, Democratic House Leader Hakeem Jeffries (56), who is expected to be the next Speaker of the House, is expected to set a new record as the first black Speaker of the House in U.S. history.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives is the third highest position in the hierarchy of power in the United States, following the President and Vice President. If Jeffries becomes chairman, he will emerge as a key figure in the Democratic Party who will check President Donald Trump's administration of state affairs in the second half of his administration.

Representative Jeffries declared victory at a Democratic Party event held in Washington, D.C. on the night of the 3rd (local time), saying, "America is back. Today, the resurgence of the great United States begins."

“House Democrats have regained control of the United States Congress,” he said. “You will have a Congress that knows that it works for the American people, not the President, the Vice President or the Supreme Court.”

His supporters gathered here chanted “Speaker!” toward Jeffries.

Jeffries became the first black person to become the floor leader of a political party in the U.S. Congress in 2022, and if he is officially elected as speaker of the House in the new session to be formed after the midterm elections, he will once again write new history in American political history as the first black head of the House of Representatives.

In particular, it is expected that it will directly confront the White House, exerting enormous influence on the legislative agenda of Congress and the operation of its standing committees. The Democratic Party has announced a full-scale investigation into the Trump administration's war against Iran and the Trump family's suspicions of obtaining unfair profits.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, on August 4, 1970, Jeffries grew up with a mother who was a social worker and a father who was a drug addiction counselor.

According to the Washington Post, Jeffries attended church from a young age, and his mother made him memorize and speak his lines at Easter and Christmas events every year, rather than reading a script. It is said that the grandmother gave Jeffreys and his older brother Hassan $500 in congratulatory money every time they graduated and encouraged them to pursue their studies, including going to graduate school.

Jeffries studied political science at Binghamton University, earned a master's degree in public policy from Georgetown University, and graduated from New York University Law School.

Afterwards, he worked as a lawyer at the large law firm 'Paul Weiss', the media company Viacom, and CBS Broadcasting before entering politics.

The process of entering politics was not smooth. He ran for election to the New York State House of Representatives repeatedly in 2000 and 2002, but was defeated, and it was only in 2006, his third attempt, that he experienced the joy of being elected for the first time.

After being elected to the Federal House of Representatives in 2012, he rapidly expanded his position within the party.

After the Democratic Party regained the majority in the House of Representatives in the 2018 midterm elections, Jeffries was elected as Chairman of the Democratic Caucus, fifth in ranking in the Democratic House leadership.

In 2022, he will be elected as floor leader, succeeding former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who led the Democratic House of Representatives for 20 years, making new history as the first black floor leader in U.S. history.

Jeffries is often compared to former President Barack Obama, the first black person to serve as head of the U.S. administration. He was similar to former President Barack Obama in his speaking style of explaining logic in popular language, so he was once called 'Barack of Brooklyn'.

Jeffries is also famous for quoting black rappers' lyrics and Bible verses in his speeches.

He enjoyed rapping in high school, and in 2017, he attracted attention by rapping the lyrics of his representative song 'Juicy' in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the death of legendary Brooklyn rapper Notorious B.I.G. at the House of Representatives plenary session.

During the impeachment trial of President Trump in 2020, when President Trump's lawyer questioned the necessity of the impeachment trial, Jeffries, who was an impeachment manager at the time, criticized President Trump's abuse of power and allegations of cover-up, and then quoted part of B.I.G.'s lyrics, "And if you don't know, now you know."

When an uproar arose from the audience during the impeachment trial at the time, Jeffries quoted a Psalm verse that said, "God loves justice and does not abandon the faithful."

Jeffries has had a long-standing confrontational relationship with President Trump.

He served as one of the seven House impeachment managers during President Trump's first impeachment trial in January 2020.

In July of last year, he opposed President Trump's large-scale tax cut and spending bill (one big, beautiful bill) and criticized the bill's problems point by point in a long speech lasting 8 hours and 45 minutes. This remains the longest speech in modern House of Representatives history.

His political style is assessed to be different from former Speaker Pelosi, who was famous for her strong control over the party.

WP evaluated Jeffries as a cautious and disciplined leader who listens to the opinions of fellow lawmakers and reaches consensus through dialogue and persuasion.

Former New York Governor David Patterson said to Politico, a political media outlet, “He thinks like a chess player, looking four or five moves ahead.”

However, in a situation where policy differences between the moderate and hard-line factions of the party and the hard-line progressive faction are expanding, the challenge is how effectively leadership, which values ​​consensus and persuasion, can coordinate these conflicts.

Some hardliners within the party have criticized Jeffries' pro-Israel tendencies and his passive attitude toward introducing Medicare for All, a single health insurance system for all citizens.

With the Democratic Party taking control of the House of Representatives, Jeffries is expected to face the test of having to lead the investigation and checks on the Trump administration while coordinating various voices within the party.

In particular, the success or failure of his leadership will likely depend on how much he can put a brake on President Trump's administration of state affairs while maintaining unity within the party amid sharp confrontation with the Republican Party.