The latest horserace report from Politico says that Jim Jordan allies’ attempts to strong-arm colleagues into falling in line has backfired and “could soon doom his speakership push outright.” The Jordon skeptics seem especially irate about Sean Hannity publishing the 20 GOP defectors’ names and phone numbers to activate the Fox News army of angry recliner chair-bound voters, calling the effort “a coordinated push with a threatening theme: Vote for Jordan — or else.”
Again, welcome to the party, pals. Please excuse the rest of us for drinking all the punch and hoovering up the hors d’oeuvres while y’all were still part of the rampaging extortionist mob. Here’s our offer: nothing.
Acknowledging that his speaker bid is in limbo, Jordan punted his plan to hold a second vote on Tuesday after Republicans privately warned he was at risk of seeing his opponents’ numbers grow. Instead, he is expected to huddle with allies and make calls in an attempt to get his bid back on track before a second vote as soon as Wednesday.
“We’re going to keep working, and we’re going to get the votes,” Jordan said on Tuesday night, saying that Republicans were having “great conversations.”
But one House Republican, who was granted anonymity to speak frankly about private conversations, said that Jordan and his lieutenants are “calling people who voted for him trying to stop the bleeding.” And they warned that those calls are “pissing off” members rather than winning them over, noting Jordan has failed to strongly and publicly disavow the attacks against his detractors.
Even if Jordan publicly calls off the flying monkeys today, it may be too late. Unnamed House Repubs in the Politico piece said the attempts to bully members into submission “amounted to a preview of the tactics that the ultraconservative Ohioan could employ if he claimed the top gavel — a readiness to unleash online wrath from the GOP base and its favored conservative pundits.”
That was okay when Jordan helped gin up a mob to overturn the 2020 election and then held a knife to the U.S. economy’s throat by threatening to not pay our bills. The GOP holdouts are only squawking now because the Freedom Caucus is aiming the mob at them.
I’m going to call my shitty Jordan-supporting rep today to once again register my objections to the absurd notion that a person who encouraged a mob to invade a congressional chamber should lead it. If you have a Democratic rep, consider thanking them for voting for Jeffries — and encourage them to stay strong.
Open thread.