If Rep. Jim Jordan becomes speaker of the House, it will be a disaster. He actively participated in Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election. He allegedly ignored a team doctor’s sexual abuse of wrestlers whom Jordan coached at Ohio State University. He has never gotten close to passing a bill and is ranked as one of the least legislatively effective members of the House. This is someone who exists to yell and scream and lie in committee hearings and posture for Fox News, not someone who is in Congress to govern.
Democrats can and should continue to fight this—including by taking writer Brian Beutler’s suggestion to seat the Ohio State abuse victims and the police officers who defended the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 in the House visitors’ gallery during the speaker vote. But if life hands Democrats the lemon of a Speaker Jim Jordan, they are prepared to make electoral lemonade. Jordan would be ideal as a foil for nationalizing House elections in 2024.
Biden-district Republicans who vote for Jordan “are hand-delivering the [Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee] content for ads ahead of next year,” a spokesperson told Axios. A Democratic operative in New York, where there are six Biden-district Republicans, said, “we'll eviscerate them” over votes for Jordan.
The DCCC released a memo obtained by NBC News, which lays out the case Democrats must make against Jordan. It cites examples of Jordan’s extremism, including his efforts to overturn the 2020 elections and his alleged failure to protect the wrestlers he coached from a sexual predator, as well as Jordan’s support for a national abortion ban and cuts to Social Security and Medicare, along with his involvement in multiple government shutdowns.
“A Speaker Jordan means extremism and far-right priorities will govern the House of Representatives,” according to the memo. “It is imperative that our caucus makes clear to voters just how extreme Congressman Jordan is and how his Speakership would negatively impact working families across the country, threaten democratic norms, and weaken relationships with our allies.”
Democrats will continue making this case, but it’s also very much on the media. We know what happens when even the most extremist Republican moves into power: The media normalizes them. That cannot be allowed to happen with Jordan. That means Democrats should cede absolutely no ground on his outrageous record, but it also means reporters should get their heads out of the sand—or wherever they are currently placed—and not gasp in outrage when Democrats tell the truth about Jordan. Media figures like to depict themselves as defenders of transparency, truth, and small-D democracy. And with Jordan potentially becoming speaker, they’re likely to have a chance to earn that image. It would be nice if they succeeded.
Sign if you agree: No more MAGA circus. Hakeem Jeffries for speaker.