(Ben Sellers, Headline USA) Radical leftist Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, who had a reputation for being a fierce and formidable adversary to her political opponents but earned the unwavering loyalty of her constituents and allies lost a fight with cancer at the age of 74.
— Sheila Jackson Lee (@JacksonLeeTX18) July 20, 2024
“A fierce champion of the people, she was affectionately and simply known as ‘Congresswoman’ by her constituents in recognition of her near-ubiquitous presence and service to their daily lives for more than 30 years,” said a press release from her family.
“She was known for her frequent visibility at constituent graduations, funerals and baby showers,” noted the Texas Tribune.
Lee lost her bid to become mayor of Houston last year but handily won her primary to reclaim her congressional seat. However, in June she announced her pancreatic cancer diagnosis noting that “the road ahead will not be easy” while claiming that she had “faith that God will strengthen me,” according to CNN.
Jackson Lee first entered the House in the mid-1990s after unseating a four-term congressman in the Democrat primary representing Texas’s 18th congressional district, and she quickly garnered a reputation for her bombastic rhetoric and radical agenda, long before figures like the “Squad” arrived to move party politics leftward.
A New York native, she took pride in her efforts to represent issues important to the black community, including the establishment of the Juneteenth federal holiday. Jackson Lee also took the lead on legislation reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act.
Lee was the subject of scandal and controversy both within the halls of Congress and without.
According to CNN, she had ties to Enron, which was headquartered in her district, and was scrutinized heavily over its campaign contributions following the company’s failure.
She also resigned from two leadership posts following allegations of a sexual assault among staffers but refused to discuss the specific details publicly.
Jackson Lee was reported throughout her tenure to have one of the highest turnover rates for staff. A 1998 report by the Houston Press noted that “the congresswoman’s abrasive ways not only drove off staff members but irritated Continental Airlines staffers to the point where one suggested she fly on a competitor instead.”
Several other similar incidents have peppered her career.
In 2014, she was voted the “meanest” member of Congress by The Washingtonian magazine, the Houston Chronicle reported.
“I’m a queen and I demand to be treated like a queen!” she reportedly said once, according to the Daily Mail.
After coercing an airline to give her a first-class seat in 2017, leaving another hapless passenger seatless, Lee offered no apology.
“Since this was not any fault of mine, the way the individual continued to act appeared to be, upon reflection, because I was an African American woman, seemingly an easy target along with the African American flight attendant who was very, very nice,” Lee wrote on Facebook.
And last year she was caught on tape berating staff in a lengthy, profanity-laced tirade.
‘Two g*****n big-ass children,” she said. “F**king idiots, serve no g*****n purpose…’
Leaked audio obtained by @CurrentRevolt shows Democrat Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee berating a staffer: "F**king idiots serve no goddamn purpose … Nobody gives a shit about what you're doing and you ain't doing shit!"
(WARNING: Explicit language) pic.twitter.com/Lzl4AmKhkS
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) October 21, 2023
However, there were some moments of levity, as when Jackson Lee—a graduate of Yale University and the University of Virginia Law School—claimed with a straight face that the moon was made of gas while delivering a speech to a group of high-schoolers, whom she was clearly gaslighting.
“You’ve heard the word ‘full moon.’ Sometimes you need to take the opportunity just to come out and see a full moon is that completely rounded circle, which is made up mostly of gases,” she clamed. “And that’s why the question is why or how could we as humans live on the moon? Are the gases such that we could do that?”
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee claims the moon is “made up mostly of gases”pic.twitter.com/dgnXCZwwZO
— TheBlaze (@theblaze) April 9, 2024
Several of her like-minded congressional colleagues shared their grief and sympathies over her loss, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
“This is a tremendous loss,” he wrote.”Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee fought so hard throughout her life to make our country a better place for all. May her memory be a blessing.”
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., who struggled recently with his own cancer diagnosis, called her “hard working” in his tribute.
“I have never known a harder-working political leader than Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, who studied every bill and every amendment with exactitude and then told Texas and America exactly where she stood,” he said.
Ben Sellers is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/realbensellers.
