The US House of Representatives is currently in something of a crisis as Republican leader Kevin McCarthy failed to win the presidency of the House Speaker. This is an internal Republican row, but the effect is to paralyze the government and leave the House unable to actually do anything. Or as the BBC puts it: Three days. Eleven voices. Still no US House speaker. (opens in new tab)
Unsurprisingly, Democrats are getting a little sick of this, but California Rep. Jared Huffmann apparently decided to express his disgust through an echo of World of Warcraft’s most famous meme. On the final ballot to determine the next speaker, Huffmann voted for Democrat Hakeem Jeffries, and he did so by yelling “Haaaakkkkkeeeeemmmm Jeffriiiieeeess!”
The delivery is undeniably similar to the way Leeroy calls Jenkins his own name, before running off to have his entire crew slaughtered by dragons.
“Yes, I said what I said,” wrote Huffmann (opens in new tab) in response to the question of whether it was intentional. “If the Republicans let us sit through this repeated self-flagellation, we might as well make it memorable.”
“I will continue my impersonation of Leroy Jenkins until the House Republicans stop nominating six-time loser Quevin McCarthy for Speaker.” said Huffmann later (opens in new tab). “I’m not bluffing.”
From @LauncherWP: At the 118th Congress to determine the next speaker of the House, Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) for “Hakeeeeeem Jeffries!” popular meme. https://t.co/JwgerX1Zw3 pic.twitter.com/cpLuN9OuCmJanuary 4, 2023
However, I bring sad and shocking news. Elected officials sometimes tell white lies. And that’s what Huffmann has done here. About a day later, Huffington Post reporter Arthur Delany spoke to Huffmann.
“Huffman just told me that he was trying to sound like an old-fashioned boxing announcer, but now that he knows about Leroy Jenkins, he likes it better.” writes Delany (opens in new tab). “‘I’m acting a little George Santos, you know, pretending I know…’ Sad to report this.”
Anyway, the Leeroy interpretation gained a foothold and, as memes do, began to spread. “Jared Huffman votes ‘Leeroy Jenkins’ style for Hakeem Jeffries,” writes New Republic congressional reporter Grace Seger (opens in new tab). “Marianette Miller-Meeks (of all people) does a Leeroy Jenkins for Kevin McCarthy. We’re having fun here, folks.”
The Leeroy Jenkins meme is now 17 years old (opens in new tab), and has shown the most incredible longevity. It remains a genuinely funny clip, in which a guild has a technical discussion about how they’re going to approach a difficult boss, before paladin Leeroy apparently returns to the game, bellows “let’s do this” and calls out his name. It was intended as a joke by the creators, but many took it seriously, with nearly every line from the clip splitting into separate mini-memes.
Perhaps this is the ultimate manifestation of his power: elected politicians sparring with WoW memes while the House of Representatives spasms uselessly. Maybe we really are in the end times, should we accept fate and just follow Leeroy to our demise. At least he has chicken.