Jordan denounces threats against Republicans who oppose his speaker bid

WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan denounced the barrage of threats and calls that Republicans say they have received since opposing his nomination to be the next House speaker. No American should be harassed for their beliefs, the Ohio Republican said.

Jordan on Wednesday lost a second round of votes for the speakership, receiving one fewer vote than he did in Tuesday’s balloting. On Thursday, he first suspended his bid to become speaker and then revived it and said he’d call for a third vote.

U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, said in a statement that after she flipped from voting for Jordan on Tuesday to another Republican — U.S. Rep. Kay Granger of Texas — on Wednesday, she received "credible death threats and a barrage of threatening calls."

  Buy Photo

"No American should accost another for their beliefs," Jordan said on X, formerly known as Twitter, after Miller-Meeks's announcement. "We condemn all threats against our colleagues and it is imperative that we come together. Stop. It's abhorrent."

Miller-Meeks was among a number of lawmakers who voiced concerns about threats and harassment they received after voting for speaker candidates other than Jordan.

According to MinnPost, phones in the office of U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber, R-Minn., rang off the hook Wednesday after he joined the Republicans opposing Jordan's speakership. A Stauber staffer told MinnPost that most callers were upset with the congressman's vote. The staffer added that most calls came from outside the lawmaker's district.

After Wednesday’s vote, U.S. Rep. John Rutherford, R-Fla., elaborated on some of the threats that have been leveled at his staff — and placed the blame squarely on Jordan for facilitating a culture of aggressive and extremist rhetoric.

"He is absolutely responsible for it," Rutherford said of Jordan. "And look, it doesn't work — especially against people like Steven (Scalise) and others,“ he said, referring to the House majority leader from Louisiana who first had been nominated for speaker instead of Jordan. ”Nobody likes to have their arm twisted. Talking about individuals' wives and those sorts of things? That's just not acceptable."

Rutherford appeared to be referring to the anonymous texts sent to the wife of U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., urging her to talk to her husband into supporting Jordan.

Texts to Bacon's wife were reviewed by the Washington Post. One urged her to tell the congressman to "step up and be a leader," while another asked her why her "husband (is) causing chaos by not supporting Jim Jordan."

"It's wrong that folks have no boundaries anymore," Bacon said Wednesday. "We don't live in fear, but holding people accountable is needed."

The Idaho Republican Party said in a news release Wednesday that it had "been inundated with emails and phone calls from registered Idaho voters expressing their profound disappointment with Congressman Mike Simpson's decision today."

That decision? Simpson voting for Scalise for a second time in as many days.

"The people of Idaho expect Mike Simpson to represent their concerns and prioritize their needs above political games and partisan divisions," the statement continued. "The true measure of his success will be in his steadfast defense of the constitution and the tangible benefits he delivers to the hardworking families of Idaho. We will be watching."

As Jordan sought to shore up support among the GOP ranks ahead of the first vote on his speakership, the Washington Post previously reported, he and his allies mounted a pressure campaign that included having Fox News host Sean Hannity call at least one swing district Republican to push a vote for Jordan, and prodding Jordan's right-wing supporters on social media to urge conservatives to call their representatives about voting for Jordan.