中期选举前的那个周六，在弗吉尼亚海滩的后台，哈基姆·杰弗里斯独自坐在一间屋子里。
Backstage in Virginia Beach the Saturday before the midterms, Hakeem Jeffries sat in a room by himself.
他一遍遍地阅读着即将发表的演讲稿——其中的各个版本他已经在各种艰难的选区发表过几十次——先是在脑海里默读，然后动嘴吐字，并练习如何挥舞双手以示强调。
He read over the speech he was about to give, versions of which he’d given dozens of times in all sorts of tough districts — first in his head, then mouthing the words and practicing how he’d throw his hands around for emphasis.
杰弗里斯此行是为伊莱恩·卢里亚助选，这位海军退伍军人正试图赢回她在2022年中期选举中失去的席位。随后，他匆忙赶往亚拉巴马州，为众议员肖马里·菲格尔斯造势。共和党人将菲格尔斯作为前所未有的十年中期选区重划行动的目标进行打击，而杰弗里斯为此已经花了逾一年时间，逐个州地进行抗争。
Jeffries was there to campaign for Elaine Luria , the Navy veteran trying to win back the seat she lost in the 2022 midterms. He then rushed to Alabama to pump up Rep. Shomari Figures , whom Republicans targeted as part of an unprecedented mid-decade redistricting effort that Jeffries had spent more than a year fighting , state by state.
当时，民主党需要净增三个席位才能赢得众议院控制权。而现在，随着最后几场选战计票完成，杰弗里斯即将迎来一个多达数十席的多数优势。此前在今年早些时候均被视为处于劣势的卢里亚和菲格尔斯双双获胜。
At that point, Democrats needed to net three seats to win the House. Now, Jeffries is set to have a margin well into the dozens as the last races finish counting. Luria and Figures, each considered underdogs earlier in the year, both won.
杰弗里斯在一周后通过Zoom接受美国有线电视新闻网采访时表示：“在2024年选举刚结束的余波中，很多人不看好我们，声称民主党已经消亡。而现在看来，我们已经生机勃勃地怒吼着复苏了。”当时他正在波多黎各参加纽约州民主党传统的选后聚会。
“A lot of people counted us out and claimed the Democratic Party was dead in the immediate aftermath of the 2024 election,” Jeffries told CNN a week later, speaking via Zoom from New York Democrats’ traditional post-election gathering in Puerto Rico. “And now it appears that we’ve roared to life.”
现年56岁的杰弗里斯即将成为美国历史上第一位非洲裔众议院议长，他将领导一个规模空前的多数派，与一位刚刚选择其最强硬助手担任白宫办公厅主任的总统展开较量。在民主党总统候选人产生之前，杰弗里斯或许将成为该党最重要的领导人，并制定候选人们在前往各个早期初选州时必须做出回应的议程。
Jeffries, 56, is set to become the first Black speaker in American history, leading a historically large majority in battle against a president who just picked his most hard-line aide as chief of staff . Until the Democratic presidential nominee emerges, Jeffries will be perhaps his party’s most important leader, defining the agenda that candidates will have to answer for as they fan out across early primary states.
2026年10月31日，在弗吉尼亚州弗吉尼亚海滩的苏珊·S·古德美术与表演艺术中心，杰弗里斯走上舞台，在为弗吉尼亚州民主党候选人举行的“动员选民”集会上发表演讲。卡罗琳·范豪滕/美国有线电视新闻网但他接过议长木槌之际，党内正处于持续的生存危机之中：许多在摇摆选区或特朗普胜选选区获胜的议员已担心过度进取会助长共和党声势——而激进左翼则指责他是企业利益和大金主的代言人。
Jeffries enters the stage to speak during a Get Out the Vote rally for Virginia Democratic candidates at the Susan S. Goode Fine & Performing Arts Center in Virginia Beach, Virginia, on October 31, 2026. Carolyn Van Houten for CNN But he also takes the gavel with his party in perpetual existential churn, the many members who won in swing or Trump districts already worried about overreach that could empower Republicans — and an activist left wing labeling him a shill of corporate interests and big money.
他听到了自由派的批评和辱骂，看到了保守派的宽边帽表情包，也知道有人认为他不是南希·佩洛西——后者将于1月离开国会。他以家乡篮球队作比较回应：该队刚刚赢得53年来首个NBA总冠军。
He’s heard the criticism and insults from liberals, seen the sombrero memes from conservatives, and knows that some people say he’s not Nancy Pelosi, who leaves Congress in January. He responds by comparing himself to his hometown basketball team , which just won its first NBA championship in 53 years.
“我的履历自己会说话，”杰弗里斯在接受CNN两次长篇采访时表示。“如果我现在是尼克斯队——你可以承受世上所有的攻击，但他们可以坐在那里说：‘我们的履历自己会说话’，而且是认真的。我们众院民主党人的看法是，我们在每一个议题上都奋力拼搏、与共和党交锋，才走到了今天这一步。”
“My track record speaks for itself,” Jeffries told CNN in a pair of extensive interviews. “If I’m the Knicks right now — you can take all the incoming in the world that you want, but they can sit there and say, ‘Our track record speaks for itself,’ and mean it. Our view as House Democrats is that we have fought hard and battled Republicans on every single issue to get us to this point.”
回想起2025年2月，即民主党在2024年惨败后三个月，杰弗里斯在国会大厦地下室的新闻发布会上对众院共和党说：“你们曾向美国宣称拥有巨大授权——授权在哪里？”他不禁莞尔。
Jeffries smiles thinking back to February 2025, three months after Democrats’ devastating 2024 losses, when he stood at a press conference in the basement of the Capitol and said of the House GOP, “You’ve lectured America that you had a big mandate — where is it?”
“在我看来，众院共和党人——尽管唐纳德·特朗普在全国摇摆州取得压倒性胜利，他们却仅勉强保住多数席位——竟然设法说服自己拥有压倒性授权，这始终是傲慢与无能的结合体，”杰弗里斯说。
“It was always to me a combination of arrogance and incompetence that House Republicans in particular — who narrowly held on to their majority, notwithstanding Donald Trump’s overwhelming victory across the country in terms of the battleground states, would somehow convince themselves that they had an overwhelming mandate,” Jeffries said.
在采访期间，杰弗里斯一直指着记分板：所有在共和党企力图通过划不公正选区把民主党人挤出去的选区中取得的胜利，他劝说坚持打艰难选战的现任议员，他筹集的数亿美元，以及他在全国各地被视为对卢里亚等候选人助选有利的场合——伴随着玛丽·J·布莱姬的歌曲《家庭事务》（Family Affair）走上台，并通过谈论让他担任议长来让群众情绪高涨。
During the interviews, Jeffries kept pointing to the scoreboard: all the wins in districts that Republicans tried to gerrymander Democrats out of, the incumbents he convinced to stick through uphill fights, the hundreds of millions of dollars he raised, the places all over the country where he was seen as a benefit to appear for candidates like Luria, walking out to Mary J. Blige’s “Family Affair” and getting crowds riled up by talking about making him speaker.
在最后的那个周末，杰弗里斯没有列出他预期民主党将赢得的席位数量，但他从助手们的计算中了解到，他们很有可能获得多数席位——正如他在一年半前所预测的那样。
That final weekend, Jeffries wasn’t listing a number of seats he expected Democrats to win, but he knew enough from aides’ math that they were likely to get the majority — as he predicted a year and a half ago.
杰弗里斯对美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）表示：“当我发表那个声明并且显然是认真的时，有人觉得我疯了。”
“There were people who thought I was out of my mind when I made that statement and clearly meant it,” Jeffries told CNN.
众议院民主党领袖哈基姆·杰弗里斯于2026年10月31日在弗吉尼亚州弗吉尼亚海滩的一场集会上发表讲话。（卡罗琳·范豪滕为美国有线电视新闻网拍摄）杰弗里斯在集会前与与会者打招呼。（卡罗琳·范豪滕为美国有线电视新闻网拍摄）杰弗里斯一直在与参议员查克·舒默——现任民主党领袖、也是同来自布鲁克林的同乡——探讨如何试图将特朗普逼入绝境。
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries speaks during a rally in Virginia Beach, Virginia, on October 31, 2026. Carolyn Van Houten for CNN Jeffries greets attendees before the rally. Carolyn Van Houten for CNN Jeffries has been talking with Sen. Chuck Schumer, the current Democratic leader and a fellow Brooklynite, about how to try to corner Trump.
这位总统最近几天态度摇摆不定，一会儿说他会与民主党合作，一会儿又威胁要成为“否决先生”，同时还叫卖售价40美元的红色“VETO”（否决）帽子。
The president in recent days has veered between saying he’d work with Democrats and threatening to become “Mr. Veto” while selling $40 “VETO” red hats.
杰弗里斯对美国有线电视新闻网表示，他希望以今年夏天的住房法案作为模式，该法案在两党支持下获得通过，并在总统在任由足够天数过去而不采取行动后于7月成为法律。
Jeffries told CNN he wants to use as a model this summer’s housing bill , which passed with bipartisan support and became law in July after the president let enough days go by without action. “Donald Trump decided not to sign it, but he also understood he couldn’t veto it,” Jeffries said.
杰弗里斯说：“唐纳德·特朗普决定不签署它，但他也明白他无法否决它。这或许是关于未来会发生的事情的一个可行途径，这意味着你可以保证的一点是，民主党人将不遗余力地把事情办成，然后就要由唐纳德·特朗普来决定他是否愿意与我们合作，让普通美国人的生活更负担得起。”
“Perhaps that’s a pathway forward as it relates to what’s going to happen into the future, which means the one thing you can guarantee is that Democrats are going to relentlessly work to get things done and then it will fall to Donald Trump to decide as to whether he’s willing to partner with us to make life more affordable for everyday Americans.”
当被问及特朗普自周二以来是否给他打过电话时，杰弗里斯省去了他标志性的冗长回答，只说了句：“没有。”当被问及他是否给特朗普打过电话时：“没有。”
Asked whether Trump has called him since Tuesday, Jeffries skipped his standard long-winded answers for just, “No.”Asked whether he’d called Trump: “No.”
自2025年9月他们在椭圆形办公室举行那次会晤以来，他一直没有和总统或副总统万斯交谈过。自从那次会晤后特朗普在网上发布了这位民主党人戴着卡通宽边帽的AI图片以来，特朗普就很少公开谈论杰弗里斯。
He hasn’t spoken to the president or to Vice President JD Vance since their one Oval Office meeting in September 2025. Trump hasn’t said much publicly about Jeffries since he posted AI images of the Democrat wearing a cartoon sombrero in the aftermath of that meeting.
杰弗里斯从未与即将上任的白宫办公厅主任斯蒂芬·米勒进行过直接对话，对于米勒的晋升，他曾称对方为“恶性肿瘤”，以此作为回应。
Jeffries has never had a direct conversation with Stephen Miller, the incoming chief of staff, whose promotion he greeted by referring to Miller as a “malignant tumor.”
今年春季，杰弗里斯采取了一项罕见的举动，亲自就一项伊朗战争权力决议案进行拉票。他希望每一位民主党人都投票支持该决议以反对这场战争，哪怕是那些尽管没有国会授权却仍为最高领袖阿亚图拉·阿里·哈梅内伊被杀而欢呼的人。但他认为，此举与其说是为了在外交政策或宪法立场上吸引选民，不如说是为了在油气价格问题上把共和党人逼入绝境。最终，有四名民主党人脱离了党团的大多数立场。
In the spring, Jeffries took the unusual move of personally whipping votes on an Iran war powers resolution . He wanted every Democrat, even those cheering to see Ayatollah Ali Khamenei killed despite no congressional authorization, to vote for the resolution in opposition to the war. But that was less to appeal to voters on foreign policy or constitutional grounds, he thought, than to corner Republicans on gas prices. Ultimately, four Democrats broke with the rest of the caucus.
据一位知悉相关对话的人士透露，尽管一些外部顾问警告称，不应将反对特朗普的“一个美丽大账单”的斗争集中在医疗医疗补助计划的削减上——他们认为这只关乎穷人——但杰弗里斯表示，他确信这就是应该走的路。
While some outside advisers warned against centering the fight against Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” on Medicaid cuts — dismissing them as only about poor people, according to a person briefed on the conversations — Jeffries said he was sure that was the way to go.
而在去年年底，他再次推动将民主党的信息焦点对准失效的医疗保健补贴，这导致了政府关门。他深感自己所作所为的分量以及可能出现的问题，一度在机场打电话给助手，焦虑地商讨自己是否应该返回国会山。
And at the end of last year, he again pushed to focus the Democrats’ message on the lapsed healthcare subsidies, leading to a government shutdown. He felt the weight of what he was doing and how it might go wrong, at one point calling aides from the airport, stressing about whether he should return to the Capitol.
“他真的很擅长把握当下，在需要做决定之前绝不轻易决定。一旦做出决定，他就准备好付诸行动，并且不允许自己或他人分心，”众议员乔·莫雷尔说。他是党团会议中的亲密盟友，也是杰弗里斯派去在其家乡纽约州处理反制划设选区（gerrymandering）事务的副手。
“He’s just really good at being in the moment, not making decisions before he needs to. And then once he makes it, he’s prepared to go and doesn’t allow himself or others to be distracted,” said Rep. Joe Morelle, a close ally in the caucus and the lieutenant he dispatched to work on retaliatory gerrymandering in their home state of New York.
2026年11月3日，在纽约州罗切斯特市中心的凯悦酒店举行的门罗县民主党委员会选举之夜集会上，众议员乔·莫雷尔在连任成功后庆祝。肖恩·多德/罗切斯特《民主纪事报》/今日美国网络/路透社阿尔·沙普顿认识这位总统可以追溯到20世纪80年代的纽约。30年来，他也是杰弗里斯的朋友和政治盟友。“他还是那个哈基姆，只是比以前更出色了，”沙普顿说。
Rep. Joe Morelle celebrates after his reelection at the Monroe County Democratic Committee's Election Night gathering at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Rochester, New York, on November 3, 2026. Shawn Dowd/Rochester Democrat and Chronicle/USA TODAY Network/Reuters Al Sharpton has known the president going back to New York in the 1980s. He has also been a Jeffries friend and political ally for 30 years. “He’s the same Hakeem, except better at it,” Sharpton said.
当想象特朗普与杰弗里斯的互动会是什么样时，沙普顿露出了灿烂的笑容。
Sharpton broke into a broad smile when imagining what the Trump-Jeffries dynamic will look like.
“特朗普将陷入与一个比他聪明的黑人会面的尴尬境地，”沙普顿说。“问题在于，他是否会因为这次惨败而受到如此大的羞辱，以至于他只能逆来顺受。”
“Trump will be in the awkward position of meeting with a Black guy smarter than him,” Sharpton said. “The question is whether he’s been so humiliated by this defeat that he’ll just have to take it.”
一些民主党人已经在争辩说，杰弗里斯不够果断，他不会对特朗普或叛变的民主党人重拳出击。
Some Democrats are already arguing that Jeffries isn’t bold enough, that he won’t bring down the hammer on Trump or Democrats who defect.
杰弗里斯依然是左翼的核心关注对象——部分是因为他对其诉求采取了谨慎的抵抗态度，特别是他对以色列的支持；部分是因为他对批评者的回击感到恼火；还有人注意到他向贾里德·库什纳等共和党人伸出橄榄枝。一份宣称杰弗里斯“绝对不是议长的正确人选”的Change.org请愿书自9月发起以来，已经收集到了100万个签名。
Jeffries has remained a prime focus for the left — some because of his cautious resistance to their causes, particularly on his support for Israel; some irritated over his snapping back at critics, some noting his outreach to Republicans like Jared Kushner . A Change.org petition that declares Jeffries “simply not the right choice” for speaker has racked up a million signatures since it was launched in September.
广受欢迎的电台主持人查拉玛涅·塔·戈德利用杰弗里斯广为人知的对嘻哈音乐的热爱，给他起了个绰号叫“AIPAC沙库尔”。9月份，巴勒斯坦记者兼作家鲁拉·杰布里尔称他是“AIPAC的走狗”和“跑腿小弟”，这些言论被普遍谴责为具有种族主义色彩，她后来为此道了歉。
Popular radio host Charlamagne tha God turned Jeffries’ well-known love of hip-hop against him with the nickname “AIPAC Shakur.”In September, Palestinian journalist and author Rula Jebreal called him an “AIPAC monkey” and an “errand boy,” comments widely condemned as racist for which she later apologized.
杰弗里斯今年差点面临来自布鲁克林市议员基·奥斯（Chi Ossé）的党内初选挑战，后者曾指责民主党高层未能有效应对特朗普，也未能为党派提供领导力。
Jeffries almost faced a primary this year from Chi Ossé, the city councilman from Brooklyn who argued top Democrats had failed to respond effectively to Trump or to provide leadership for the party.
纽约市议员基·奥斯2026年3月26日在纽约发表讲话。爱德华多·穆尼奥斯/路透社/资料图片虽然杰弗里斯往往避免回应批评者，但有关初选挑战的言论促使他的政治团队发表声明称：“如果‘绅士化团队’想要一场初选较量，我们的回应将是有力且毫不妥协的。”
New York City Council Member Chi Ossé speaks in New York on March 26, 2026. Eduardo Munoz/Reuters/File While Jeffries tends to avoid responding to critics, talk of a primary challenge led his political operation to declare , “If Team Gentrification wants a primary fight, our response will be forceful and unrelenting.”
在纽约市长佐赫兰·马姆达尼（Zohran Mamdani）的劝说下，奥斯最终没有参选，不过他在周三早晨接过了这一指责的接力棒，嘲讽杰弗里斯称这些胜利是关于美国而不是关于民主党——这条贴文得到了受参议员伯尼·桑德斯启发的组织“我们的革命”（Our Revolution）的推波助澜。
Ossé didn’t run after being pushed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to stand down, though he picked up the charge on Wednesday morning, mocking Jeffries for saying the wins were about America and not about Democrats — a post that was boosted by the Sen. Bernie Sanders-inspired group Our Revolution.
今年早些时候，当美国民主党社会主义者成员、当选众议员克莱尔·瓦尔德斯（Claire Valdez）的初选胜利派对上闪过杰弗里斯的照片时，人群高呼：“下一个就是你！”
Earlier this year, as a picture of Jeffries flashed on the screen at the primary victory party for Rep.-elect Claire Valdez, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, the crowd chanted, “You’re next!”
杰弗里斯对美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）表示：“正如其他人所观察到的，那场人群中几乎毫无多样性，这让我觉得非常有趣。”
“It was very interesting to me, as observed by others,” Jeffries told CNN, “that there was almost zero diversity in that crowd.”
杰弗里斯看重忠诚与信任。他珍视那些在自己尚未大权在握时就开始关注他的人。他对政坛前辈充满敬意，特别是国会黑人核心会议（Congressional Black Caucus）的前辈；在经历工薪阶层出身并代表了该国最贫困、黑人人口最多的选区之一后，他对手中那些被他视为这项事业新来者的人不屑一顾。
Jeffries pays attention to loyalty and trust. He values those who didn’t start paying attention to him when he was already en route to being a big deal. He is deferential to elders in politics, especially in the Congressional Black Caucus, and after growing up working class and representing one of the poorer and most Black districts in the country, he dismisses those he sees as newcomers to the cause.
他对新当选的议员本身采取了不同的方法，甚至与那些在夏秋两季竞选期间猛烈抨击他的社会主义者展开了合作。
He took a different approach to the incoming members themselves, working with even the socialists who blasted him in their campaigns over the summer and fall.
在前总统巴拉克·奥巴马这位最具价值的盟友中，杰弗里斯有一位重要支持者。2008年，杰弗里斯曾在一场总统竞选背书中支持奥巴马，而放弃了时任纽约州参议员希拉里·克林顿——这差点导致杰弗里斯被当地政治圈“开除”。通过电话和在奥巴马华盛顿办公室的定期会面，这位前总统对杰弗里斯传达信息时严守纪律的作风，以及他在反击选区划分不公（gerrymandering）斗争中所表现出的冷酷坚决，印象深刻。
Among his most useful allies is former President Barack Obama, whom Jeffries endorsed for president in 2008 over then-New York Sen. Hillary Clinton — something that nearly led to Jeffries’ excommunication from local political circles. Over phone calls and regular meetings at Obama’s Washington office, the former president has been impressed by Jeffries’ message discipline and his ruthlessness leading the efforts to fight back on gerrymandering.
一位顾问对美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）透露，奥巴马与杰弗里斯年龄更为相近，虽然他曾与佩洛西密切合作，但他将这位候任议长视为接过接力棒的下一代。
Obama is closer in age to Jeffries, and while he worked closely with Pelosi, an adviser told CNN, he sees the incoming speaker as the next generation taking the baton.
前总统乔·拜登和比尔·克林顿也在周三打电话表达了支持，并主动提出帮忙。几位可能正为2028年白宫竞选做准备的候选人也打了电话。
Former presidents Joe Biden and Bill Clinton called on Wednesday too, offering to help. So did a few of the candidates likely gearing up to run for the White House in 2028.
2025年1月20日，在国会大厦圆形大厅举行的唐纳德·特朗普就职典礼上，众议院少数党领袖哈基姆·杰弗里斯与前总统比尔·克林顿握手。索尔·勒布/法新社/Pool/盖蒂图片社一些人尚未承诺支持杰弗里斯担任议长，尽管他拥有庞大的多数优势——其议席可能接近260人——这使得少数持保留意见的人无关紧要。为了突显其支持范围的广泛，气候活动团体“日出运动”（Sunrise Movement）的共同创始人和美国民主社会主义者组织（Democratic Socialists of America）前成员、密歇根州候任众议员威尔·劳伦斯现在计划投票给杰弗里斯，推翻了他在竞选早期的立场。“日出运动”曾因民主党现任议员对以色列的支持而推动针对他们的党内初选挑战。
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries shakes hands with former President Bill Clinton at Donald Trump's inauguration in the Capitol Rotunda on January 20, 2025. Saul Loeb/AFP/Pool/Getty Images Some have yet to commit to backing Jeffries for speaker, though the size of his majority — potentially approaching 260 members — makes a few holdouts moot. Underscoring the breadth of his support, Michigan Rep.-elect Will Lawrence, a co-founder of the climate activist group Sunrise Movement and a former member of the Democratic Socialists of America, now plans to vote for Jeffries, reversing his position earlier in the campaign. Sunrise has promoted primary challenges against Democratic incumbents over their support for Israel.
劳伦斯说：“这一切都只是取决于你在任何特定时刻的筹码是什么。有时我们在党内进行这些辩论，而有时则是团结一致、专注于更大任务的时候。”
“It’s all just a question of what your leverage is at any given time. And there are times when we are having these debates within the party, and there’s times to come together with unity to focus on the bigger task,” Lawrence said.
当被问及如何调和杰弗里斯在期中选举期间筹集的企业政治行动委员会（PAC）资金与他自己要求将所有企业资金驱逐出政坛的主张时，劳伦斯作出了回应。劳伦斯回答说：“政治充满了矛盾。”
Lawrence was asked how he reconciled the corporate PAC money Jeffries raised in the midterms with his own demand to get all corporate money out of politics. “Politics is full of contradictions,” Lawrence responded.
杰弗里斯周二在纽约开始一天的行程，随后前往华盛顿特区与党内官员共进午餐——地点正是2018年中期选举当晚民主党人聚餐庆祝的那家蟹肉小馆，那一年他们在特朗普首个任期内夺回了众议院控制权。周二晚间，当他在华盛顿面对镜头宣称胜利时，他更换了登场背景音乐，换成了另一首钟爱的曲目：诺托里亚斯·B.I.G.的《Unbelievable》。
Jeffries started Tuesday in New York and traveled to DC for lunch with party officials — eating at the same crab shack where Democrats dined on midterm day in 2018, when they flipped the House in Trump’s first term. When he went before the cameras in Washington to claim victory on Tuesday night, he switched his walk-on music to another favorite: the Notorious B.I.G.’s “Unbelievable.”
2026年11月3日，众议院少数党领袖哈基姆·杰弗里斯在华盛顿与民主党众议院竞选委员会举行的中期选举之夜观选派对上向志愿者致意。Tom Brenner/Getty Images但杰弗里斯极其低调，以至于助手和同事有时开玩笑说，他甚至不想让他们知道自己住在哪里，或者在关键时刻独自躲起来时到底在做什么。他自己讲述周二晚给母亲打电话的情况是：“她说，‘爱你，为你骄傲。’”被追问细节时，他只肯说，“我们聊得更久一些，但大意就是这些。”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries greets volunteers during a midterm election night watch party with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee on November 3, 2026, in Washington. Tom Brenner/Getty Images But Jeffries is so private that aides and colleagues sometimes joke that he doesn’t even want them to know where he lives, or what exactly he does when he sometimes holes up by himself in big moments. His own account of his phone call with his mother on Tuesday night: “She said, ‘Love you and proud of you.’”Pushed to elaborate, he would only say, “We had a longer conversation, but that was the gist.”
让自认为与他关系亲密的国会议员讲讲他们最喜欢的杰弗里斯轶事，他们很难说出具体细节，却滔滔不绝地表达有多喜欢、多信任他。
Ask members of Congress who consider themselves close to him for their favorite Jeffries story and they struggle to come up with specifics, though they gush about how much they like and trust him.
“我叫他‘Silk’（丝绒），因为他太顺滑了，”他的亲密盟友、纽约州众议员格雷戈里·米克斯说道，他先后把杰弗里斯比作棋手、洋基队传奇终结者马里亚诺·里维拉，以及在屏蔽杂音、专注使命方面堪比马丁·路德·金。
“I call him ‘Silk’ because he’s so smooth,” said his close ally New York Rep. Greg Meeks, who variously compared him to a chess player, famed Yankees closer Mariano Rivera, and in terms of tuning out the noise to focus on the mission, Martin Luther King Jr.
2026年10月31日，众议院民主党领袖哈基姆·杰弗里斯在弗吉尼亚州弗吉尼亚海滩发表讲话。Carolyn Van Houten for CNN 2026年10月31日，众议院民主党领袖哈基姆·杰弗里斯在弗吉尼亚州弗吉尼亚海滩发表讲话。Carolyn Van Houten for CNN 2026年10月31日，众议院民主党领袖哈基姆·杰弗里斯在弗吉尼亚州弗吉尼亚海滩苏珊·S·古德美术与表演艺术中心举行的动员选民集会上。
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries speaks in Virginia Beach, Virginia, on October 31, 2026. Carolyn Van Houten for CNN House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries speaks in Virginia Beach, Virginia, on October 31, 2026. Carolyn Van Houten for CNN House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries during a Get Out the Vote rally at the Susan S. Goode Fine & Performing Arts Center in Virginia Beach, Virginia, on October 31, 2026.
Carolyn Van Houten for CNN在政治已经演变成一档连续剧的当下，杰弗里斯决心在公众面前更多地保持神秘感，而不是成为一个角色——尽管他也拒绝承认自己是个谜。
Carolyn Van Houten for CNN In a politics that has become a running soap opera, Jeffries is determined to remain more of an enigma in public than a character — though he also rejects that he is an enigma.
“在我目前代表的选区，或者在我此前代表的州议会选区里，我觉得没有人会认为我是内向的，”杰弗里斯说。“归根结底，我们是国会众议院民主党党团内部的一个团队。能够担任这个团队的四分卫是一种荣誉。但我们必须把重点放在真正为美国人民争取胜利上。我们是一起做到这一点的。”
“Seems to me that there’s nobody in the district that I represent currently or in the district that I previously represented in the assembly thinks that I’m introverted,” Jeffries said. “At the end of the day, we’re a team within the House Democratic caucus in the Congress. It’s an honor to be the quarterback of that team. But we have to remain focused on actually winning for the American people. And we do that together.”
杰弗里斯坐在波多黎各，面对美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）的追问，要求他描述自己对这些胜利的感受、将他推到这一位置的发展历程，以及他即将创造的历史时，他终于妥协了。
Sitting in Puerto Rico, pressed by CNN to describe how he felt himself about the wins, the arc that got him there, the history-making he’s about to do, Jeffries finally relented.
“你从没想过嘻哈音乐能走得这么远，”他引用了声名狼藉先生（Biggie Smalls）的另一首歌曲《Juicy》中的歌词说道。这就完了？
“You never thought that hip-hop would take it this far,” he said, quoting a different Biggie Smalls song, “Juicy.”That’s it?
“这就完了，”他说。“这说明了很多，对我意义重大——无需多言。”
“That’s it,” he said. “That says a lot, means a lot to me — without saying a whole lot.”