leeroy-jenkins-in-congress

World of Warcraft super-meme Leeroy Jenkins just Leeroy Jenkins-ed his way into Congress.

It's not often that we find ourselves reporting on the U.S. political climate. But right now, the US House of Representatives is embroiled in a chaotic struggle to elect a Speaker, thanks to a handful of the more 'out-there' Republicans refusing to vote in line with the majority of their colleagues. Consequently, one paragon of MMO culture, and foremost agent of chaos, has charged headfirst into the hallowed halls of Congress: Leeroy Jenkins.

Without delving too far into the details, the House is currently in the process of replacing outgoing House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, with a successor following a Republican midterm victory. Minority Democrats are all voting for their candidate, Hakeem Jeffries. And while Republicans should be voting in unison for their own candidate - and winning that vote - a handful are refusing. For... reasons.

This means that the House is now caught in a seemingly endless cycle of voting and re-voting, with no clear winner emerging after six rounds, and counting. Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif), therefore, has decided to spice things up by casting his vote for Jeffries in the signature style of Leeroy Jenkins. 

In case there was any doubt that Huffman was imitating a World of Warcraft legend, he later took to Twitter to confirm the stunt. What's more, he later doubled-down, promising that his Leeroy Jenkins impersonation will persist for as long as he has to continue voting as result of Republican infighting.

I will continue doing my Leroy Jenkins impersonation until House Republicans stop nominating 6-time loser Quevin McCarthy for Speaker. I'm not bluffing.

— Rep. Jared Huffman (@JaredHuffman) January 4, 2023

We're not sure if Ben Schulz had ever planned to find his creation immortalized in modern culture as an s-tier meme, much less to have Leeroy Jenkins' legacy invoked on the House floor. But we live in particularly strange times, and the fact that Huffman decided to imitate everybody's favorite reckless paladin when casting his vote just seems par for the course at this point.

Regardless of political stance, Huffman's stunt is the perfect indictment of the ridiculousness of the situation. We're always happy to see Leeroy Jenkins' influence in the most unexpected of places. But now that he is being imitated by a 58-year-old politician, we can't help but feel particularly proud.