Rep. Jim Jordan, founding chair of the far-right Freedom Caucus and a pardon-seeking supporter of former President Donald Trump’s efforts to stay in power after losing the 2020 presidential election, is, as of Wednesday morning, just a few Republican votes from being elected Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. With MAGA leaders, religious-right activists, and right-wing media outlets pressuring the Republican representatives who did not back Jordan in Tuesday’s vote, he may well be second in line for the presidency by the end of the day. If Jordan does become Speaker, it will be yet another new low point for American democracy and for the Republican Party.
Eight Reasons Jim Jordan Should Not Be Speaker of the House
- He is an insurrectionist. Jordan was an aggressive supporter of Donald Trump’s efforts to stay in power after losing the 2020 presidential election. Jordan traveled to Pennsylvania to promote the lies of the so-called “Stop the Steal” campaign. As Jill Lawrence wrote recently at The Bulwark, “The next speaker should not be someone we already know is willing to manufacture disputes and support groundless claims to overturn an election to install the president he wants.”
- He is Trump’s lapdog. Jordan was the designated GOP attack dog at the 2019 impeachment hearings, where he sought to discredit witnesses against Trump. In 2018, Jordan told a disbelieving Anderson Cooper that he had never heard Trump lie. Five days after the assault on Congress, Trump awarded Jordan the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
- He undermines the rule of law. The House Committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol sought testimony from Jordan about his support for Trump’s schemes to stay in power. Jordan defied a congressional subpoena. Jordan has abused his power as Chair of the House Judiciary Committee to interfere in legal investigations and indictments of Trump.
- He is an anti-freedom extremist. Jordan sponsored an extreme national abortion ban. The Human Rights Campaign has called him “a member of the anti-equality fringe” for his support for anti-LGBTQ legislation.
- He is about ideological warfare, not governing. Former House Speaker John Boehner described Jordan as a “legislative terrorist,” explaining later about Jordan, “I just never saw a guy who spent more time tearing things apart—never building anything, never putting anything together.” Confirming Boehner’s description, Lawrence noted in her Bulwark article that in 2018, “Jordan and other MAGA Republicans convinced Trump to hold out for border wall funding in a budget dispute with Democrats,” leading to “a painful 35-day federal government shutdown.” Jordan leads a bogus House committee investigating the so-called “weaponization” of the federal government, which has been mostly a platform for the promotion of right-wing conspiracy theories.
- He is the far right’s candidate. When a group affiliated with the Koch brothers launched a petition campaign to encourage Jordan to run for House Speaker in 2018, the signers were a Who’s Who of leaders from the Religious Right, legal and corporate right, and Tea Party. Jordan’s current bid for speaker has been endorsed by Christian nationalist Sean Feucht, who claimed that God has “anointed” his friend Jordan to hold the office. Campaigns to pressure GOP representatives who voted against Jordan are being waged by right-wing media figures like Sean Hannity and Todd Starnes and right-wing activists like Gary Bauer and Gordan Klingenschmitt, who urged supporters to call House members, writing, “take a moment to save America.” The Trump-aligned religious-right activists at Intercessors for America also urged supporters to call or email House members on Jordan’s behalf.
- He promotes damaging right-wing conspiracy theories. Trump’s lies about the 2020 election are not the only conspiracy theories Jordan has helped promote. In 2013, Jordan endorsed a conspiracy theory that the U.S. government was buying bullets in an effort to limit their availability to gun owners.
- He is untrustworthy. Multiple former Ohio State wrestlers have publicly charged that when he was an assistant coach, Jordan knew that a team doctor was sexually harassing and abusing student athletes, but refused to take action. One former wrestler said Jordan snickered when the student told him about a groping incident. Another athlete who has accused Jordan of lying about the situation has said Jordan doesn’t deserve to be speaker, adding, “He still has to answer for what happened to us.”
The Republican Party in the MAGA Era
With few notable exceptions, Republican officials have either enthusiastically embraced or been bullied into supporting Jordan’s candidacy and the rest of the MAGA agenda. Rep. Mike Rogers, who publicly opposed Jordan’s vote a few days ago, shifted after being slammed by, among others, Steve Bannon’s WarRoom newsletter and right-wing Sen. Mike Lee.
Last Friday, as Jordan was scrambling to line up enough Republican votes to be elected as Speaker, the Republican National Committee was using Jordan to raise money “to help the GOP build a winning 2024 campaign strategy.” In a text message sent Friday evening, Jordan told supporters that “it’s not too late to save our country from total destruction” by completing the RNC’s “2024 Presidential Canvass” and making a donation. The 22-question survey touched on deceptive right-wing narratives about “the radical left,” critical race theory, media bias, and other potential campaign themes. According to the fine print, donations would be allocated 99 percent to the RNC and 1 percent to Jim Jordan for Congress.
On Monday, Jordan released a “Dear Colleague” letter declaring, “The role of a Speaker is to bring all Republicans together” and asserting, “The principles that unite us as Republicans are far greater than the disagreements that divide us.” Jordan pledged, “I will tirelessly work to defend and expand our majority and help every Republican member back home.”
If Jordan and the rest of the far-right movement manage to pressure the remaining Republican holdouts into making Jordan the most extreme, unaccomplished, and unqualified Speaker in modern history, that may indeed tell us what unites Republicans these days—but it won’t be anything to brag about, and it won’t be good for the country.
