Jordan is a far-right ideologue and conspiracy theorist first elected to the House in 2006. His most noteworthy achievement in office was organizing other like-minded individuals into the House Freedom Caucus in 2015.
In the months preceding and following the 2020 presidential election, Jordan, an Ohio representative for the Fourth District, was among Trump’s most ardent backers. He frequently accused Democrats of attempting to rig the results of the election.
As to the final report of the House select committee that looked into the incident at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, Thomas Joscelyn, one of the authors, told CNN last week that Jim Jordan was “deeply involved in Donald Trump’s antidemocratic efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.” Additionally, Jordan organized legislative resistance to counting Biden’s officially recognized electoral votes.
Jordan’s attempts lacked justification in any way. He only wanted to maintain Donald Trump’s position of authority against the wishes of the American people.
Despite his distaste for Jordan’s language and actions, Crenshaw, a Republican from Texas, continues to support his Ohioan colleague for speaker of the House. Regarding the disarray among House Republicans, Crenshaw asserted in a Sunday interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper that Jordan had “become part of the solution, not part of the problem.” He discounted Jordan’s disregard for the law and attempted to rig the presidential election as unimportant. “I wouldn’t have friends in the conference if I carried that grudge,” Crenshaw declared. “There, I was on an island.”
Not only is Crenshaw a presumably sensible member of Congress, but he is not the only one willing to overlook that the front-runner for speaker of the House was actively involved in an attempt to subvert the Constitution and reinstall a president who had lost to office.
Politico notes that even some Republicans who have sworn openly and privately to oppose him at all costs are starting to feel hesitant to back him out of concern that their group’s will is waning as their numbers decline. Jordan’s supporters have also stated their belief that when the floor vote approaches, the opposition to his campaign for speaker will dissipate.
Republicans face a truly transgressive individual who openly disdains the American democratic institutions, notwithstanding their flaws. Republicans pledge once again to oppose his rise. Republicans give up again, fearing losing a primary and facing backlash from the conservative media more than anything else.
And every time these more centrist or mainstream Republicans give in, things get a bit worse—both for the nation and for themselves. Kevin McCarthy gave in to pressure and expediency when he cast a vote in the House of Representatives to reverse the 2020 presidential election.
In his quest to obtain the speaker’s gavel, he accomplished the same thing by giving the most jubilant insurrectionists more power. Jim Jordan is rising now that he is no longer around.
Jordan might only hold the role for a short time if he prevails. In the modern House, even if his party maintains a majority, a speaker who must cling to power and issue threats through conservative media will not last long after the next election cycle.