Some House Republicans face death threats over speakership war – Republican Ohio Representative Jim Jordan’s bid to become the 56th Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives has fallen into tatters, as GOP members in Congress continue to disagree on who should take up the gavel.
The situation has become so dire that a number of House Republicans have reportedly received death threats for their refusal to support Jordan – who also incidentally has an endorsement from former president Donald Trump.
Republican Nebraska Representative Don Bacon, a moderate who is among those opposed to a Jordan speakership, said that not only him, but his family had received a number of threatening text messages and calls that his wife now sleeps beside a loaded gun at night.
Bacon’s experience is unfortunately not an isolated one, as many GOP members in the House who continue to vote against Jordan for speaker have received their share of harassment and threats for refusing to budge on their stand.
Georgia Representative Drew Ferguson also reported that he and his family begun receiving death threats after he voted against Jordan for speaker. He issued a statement saying that he would not support a “bully” for speaker saying that harassment “will never be tolerated” and called the terrorizing of his family “unacceptable” and “unforgivable.”
“When the pressure campaigns and attacks on fellow members ramped up, it became clear to me that the House Republican Conference does not need a bully as the speaker,” Ferguson said in a statement.
Rep. Bacon echoed his colleague’s sentiments. “Bullying don’t work,” he said of the scare tactics employed against him and his family.
Jordan denied involvement in the threats, and his office called the harassment against his fellow Republican representatives “abhorrent.”
As Jordan’s speakership bid collapses, nine contenders rise in its wake
After Jordan failed a third time to secure the required number of votes to be appointed speaker, GOP members in the House dropped him as their nominee for speaker and had to go back to the drawing board. As a result, eight House Republicans currently have their names in the hat for the latest race to become speaker, with a ninth, Pennsylvania Representative Dan Meuse, dropping out only recently.
The remaining contenders are House Majority Whip and Minnesota Representative Tom Emmer, Oklahoma Representative Kevin Hern, House Republican Conference Vice Chairman and Louisiana Representative Mike Johnson, Florida Representative Byron Donalds, Michigan Representative Jack Bergman, Georgia Representative Austin Scott, Texas Representative Pete Sessions, and Alabama Representative Gary Palmer.
The candidates will be presenting their respective cases to the rest of House Republicans in a closed-door meeting. They will need to address several issues such as government spending, whether or not to pursue another stopgap funding bill, and ensuring a united front among all members of the GOP, especially before putting a matter to a House-wide vote.
The Democrats, on the other hand, seem to be benefitting off the internal bickering in the GOP, as they continue to raise funds off the speakership standoff. And despite lacking the numbers, they have united behind House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries as their own nominee for speaker.
Tim Ramos has written for various publications, corporations, and organizations – covering everything from finance, politics, travel, entertainment, and sports – in Asia and the U.S. for more than 10 years.
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