The wife of a Republican lawmaker who is among those resisting the election of Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) as Speaker of the House was the recipient of threatening texts if her husband didn’t support him prior to Tuesday’s vote.
Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) told Politico that “multiple anonymous emails and texts” were sent to his spouse, allegedly by supporters of the Ohio Republican who hopes to replace former Speaker Kevin McCarthy who was ousted two weeks ago.
“Jim’s been nice, one-on-one, but his broader team has been playing hardball,” the congressman told the outlet, adding that his wife was being harassed with one of the texts saying, “Your husband better support Jim Jordan.”
“Why is your husband causing chaos by not supporting Jim Jordan? I thought he was a team player,” one text that was provided to Politico’s Olivia Beavers read, to which Mrs. Bacon responded, “Who is this???”
Taking it to a different level, Bacon tells me his wife even received multiple anonymous emails and texts from people over the past few days w/ implied message: vote Jordan or be booted
Here are a few she received. https://t.co/VZQyfDCmeA https://t.co/ekFbEr24IM pic.twitter.com/FwwVvSrrvo
— Olivia Beavers (@Olivia_Beavers) October 17, 2023
“Talk to your husband tell him to step up and be a leader and help the Republican Party get a speaker there’s too much going on in the world for all this going on in the Republican Party you guys take five steps forward and then turn around take 20 steps backward no wonder our party always ends up getting screwed over,” another message sent to Bacon’s wife said.
The first vote was a disaster for Jordan with 20 of his fellow Republicans – including Bacon – voting against him in an embarrassing showing that delighted Democrats who were clearly enjoying the show. A second vote is currently scheduled to take place on Wednesday.
The Trump-endorsed Jordan’s intensely loyal supporters have mounted an intense pressure campaign on GOP lawmakers to get on board with his speakership so that business can get back to normal and Bacon isn’t the only one who has been targeted in a persuasion campaign that at least for now, appears to have backfired.
Unnamed “other Republicans” told the outlet that they have “received a barrage of calls from local conservative leaders” but have blamed the “onslaught” on Jordan’s avid supporters and not his direct involvement.
“He’s lost support because of this,” an anonymous GOP lawmaker told the outlet. “Constant smears — it’s just dishonesty at its core.”
“I think some of it did backfire … and I think it was to the detriment of Jim,” Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL), a supporter of Jordan told reporters.
Beavers suggested that there is discord among House Republicans.
“One House R told me Jordan and his allies are ‘calling people who voted for him trying to stop the bleeding’ tonight,” she wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “They warned that those calls are ‘pissing off’ members rather than winning them over. They wanted Jordan to strongly and publicly disavow the attacks but hasn’t.”
One House R told me Jordan and his allies are “calling people who voted for him trying to stop the bleeding” tonight.
They warned that those calls are “pissing off” members rather than winning them over. They wanted Jordan to strongly and publicly disavow the attacks but hasn’t https://t.co/47Ii0gNX2w
— Olivia Beavers (@Olivia_Beavers) October 17, 2023
“We must stop attacking each other and come together,” Jordan said in a post to X on Tuesday night. “There’s too much at stake. Let’s get back to working on the crisis at the southern border, inflation, and helping Israel.”
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