NEW CIVILITY WATCH: Yet Another House Dem Calls for ‘Street Fight’ Against Trump Policies.
Less than two weeks ago, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-Of Course) called upon people to fight the “extreme MAGA Republican agenda” not just “legislatively” and “in the courts” but “in the streets.” The Trump White House has demanded that Jeffries apologize for inciting violence, and of course, Jeffries did not do so. And now yet another House Democrat has said much the same thing that Jeffries said. Do these people want to incite a new civil war? If they don’t, they certainly seem to like playing with rhetorical fire.
Fox News reported that Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D-Victimhood), a longtime leftist leader who was first elected to the House in 1987, left in 1996 to become president of the NAACP, and returned to the House in 2020, spoke at a rally in Baltimore on Monday. Mfume railed against Elon Musk’s efforts to end waste and fraud in government and called the Department of Government Efficiency the “department of government evil.”
Having worked himself up into a fine froth, Mfume thundered: “This will be a congressional fight, a constitutional fight, a legal fight, and on days like this a street fight, yes we will stand.” It was remarkable how closely his words aligned with those of Jeffries. It’s hard to escape the impression that the Democrat leadership in the House really wants to see people becoming violent in opposition to Trump’s policies.
Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) posted on X about how odd and disproportionate Mfume’s response was to DOGE’s mission: “A ‘street fight’ to stop cuts to wasteful spending? Those are fighting words. And they’re not honorable words.” Indeed.
Tim Fazenbaker, a who ran unsuccessfully in 2020 and 2022 for a Maryland congressional seat, posted the video of Mfume’s words with this comment suggesting that Mfume’s rage against DOGE may have a self-serving cause: “Congressman Kweisi Mfume calling for a street fight against @realDonaldTrump, @elonmusk and us. Unfortunately, due to gerrymandering, this is my congressman. The same one that was getting nearly $400,000,000.00 to bring illegals and refugees to my community.” Well, that certainly does explain why Mfume would hate DOGE.
Discover the Networks’ page on Mfume:
At a “Race in America” town hall meeting sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) on September 16, 1993, Mfume announced that his Congressional Black Caucus had entered into a “sacred covenant” with Louis Farrakhan‘s Nation of Islam (NOI), meaning that the two organizations would consult with one another on legislative issues and political strategies. At the meeting, Farrakhan joined former CBC chairman Kweisi Mfume, NAACP executive director Benjamin Chavis, Rep. Maxine Waters, and the Rev. Jesse Jackson in a discussion about: (a) the poor state of race relations in America, and (b) possible solutions to the problems facing the black community. Among the problems the panel identified were: societal prejudice against African Americans, black feelings of inferiority, housing and job discrimination, poverty, urban violence, and family dysfunction. Said Mfume: “We want the word to go forward today to friend and foe alike that the Congressional Black Caucus, after having entered into a sacred covenant with the NAACP to work for real and meaningful change, will enter into that same covenant with the Nation of Islam.”
Mfume backed out of the aforementioned covenant with NOI in February 1994, after a number of CBC members voiced concern about Farrakhan’s failure to condemn a recent instance of incendiary racist and anti-Semitic rhetoric by NOI spokesman Khalid Abdul Muhammad.
When Mfume retired from Congress in 1996, Elijah Cummings took over his seat in the House of Representatives.
For an overview of Mfume’s voting record on a range of key issues during his tenure as a legislator, click here.
After leaving Congress, Mfume went on to become President/CEO of the NAACP, a post he would hold for eight years.
In 1997 Mfume supported the unsuccessful mayoral candidacy of Al Sharpton in New York City.
Exit quote: “Mfume describes his politics as ‘very, very progressive’ on social issues, but ‘a little more moderate’ on fiscal matters.”