Hakeem Jeffries arrived at a Democratic conference in Denver expecting to discuss his party’s future.

Instead, the man in line to become the next speaker of the House was repeatedly shouted down by activists from his own side.

The scene was supposed to showcase a victorious party preparing to take power. It quickly became a public display of the fractures Democrats are carrying with them into Congress.

Video from the room shows the interruptions beginning as Jeffries tried to speak:

The Associated Press reports that the “What’s Next” conference had been planned as a post-midterm gathering for Democratic officials and strategists. Jeffries’ appearance was interrupted by activists demanding a Green New Deal and an arms embargo against Israel while the audience booed the protesters and chanted his name.

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Other protesters demanded Medicare for All and attacked Democratic leaders over the failed effort to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. One man accused Jeffries of being a liar and a traitor while security removed him.

This was not a hostile Republican crowd. It was the Democratic coalition turning on its own presumed leader.

Another angle captured how often Jeffries was forced to stop while activists shouted their demands:

The Denver Gazette reports that the disruptions occurred during a stage conversation moderated by Jessica Tarlov. One protester demanded to know when Democrats would embrace the Green New Deal, while others pressed Jeffries over Israel and the party’s direction after the election.

Jeffries tried to brush it off by saying he was from Brooklyn and calling the confrontation “light work.” But no one watching the scene could miss the political warning.

Democrats may have won control of the House, but their activist wing is already demanding a much harder left turn. Those demands include massive federal climate spending, government-run health care, an arms embargo against Israel and a more aggressive campaign against President Trump’s administration.

The group that said it organized part of the disruption posted its own video and made clear that the confrontation was deliberate:

Fox News reports that Jeffries was repeatedly interrupted while discussing how Democrats intend to use their new majority. Protesters accused party leaders of ignoring younger voters and failing to deliver the sweeping agenda activists believe they were promised.

That is the problem Democrats now face. Their leaders want to present a disciplined governing party, while their loudest organizers are demanding ideological escalation before the new Congress has even begun.

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Jeffries may have the votes to take the gavel. Friday’s spectacle showed that having the title and controlling the movement are two very different things.

President Trump and Republicans should pay attention. The same coalition promising investigations, impeachment fights and resistance in Washington is already fighting over who controls it.

 

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