Outside the Beltway

Jordan’s Electional Denialism Helped Cost Him Speakership

A hopeful irony.

James Joyner · Saturday, October 21, 2023 · 5 comments

WaPo’s Jacqueline Alemany reports “Concerns about Jordan’s election denialism flare during failed bid for speaker.“

As Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) waged his battle to become House speaker, some House Republicans were uncomfortable with the possibility of having an election denier occupying the most powerful legislative seat in the U.S. government heading into a presidential election year.

Jordan, who relinquished his nomination for the speakership on Friday after his third defeat on the House floor, was among the most prolific and vocal GOP lawmakers who worked to convince voters that the 2020 election was stolen from former president Donald Trump, and assisted Trump in his efforts to overturn the election.

Along with several of his peers in the House Republican conference, Jordan refused to comply with a subpoena for testimony from the House Select Committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Throughout the course of its investigation, the committee unearthed evidence that Jordan had materially relevant communications with Trump and others about activities pertaining to Jan. 6.

Jordan’s role in Jan. 6 and his election denialism were not an organizing nor central factor for the roughly two dozen Republicans who voted against his speaker bid. But some Republican lawmakers — even some who supported Jordan’s bid — raised concerns about his continued refusal to acknowledge Joe Biden’s 2020 election win when asked by peers this week.

[…]

During a conference meeting on Monday evening, when Jordan was asked by Rep. French Hill (R-Ark.) whether he believed Trump won the 2020 election, he declined to answer the question directly, according to lawmakers who were in the closed-door meeting.

“He answered the question as if it was February 1, 2021,” said one lawmaker, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to disclose details of the private meeting. “It was disappointing for many members” that Jordan could not succinctly answer “a simple question,” the lawmaker added.

[…]

“Jim, at some point, if he’s going to lead this conference during a presidential election cycle, and particularly a presidential election year with primaries and caucuses around the country, is going to have to be strong and say, ‘Donald Trump didn’t win the election,’ ” Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) told reporters on Monday.

To be sure, Jordan’s defeat was overdetermined. He could afford to lose no more than four Republican votes and he lost 20, 22, and 25 in successive rounds of voting. I suspect his general assholish personality cost him as much as his attempts to steal the election. And the fact that he refused to back Steve Scalise after the caucus chose him over Jordan was also a huge factor.

Still, the fact that election denialism alone would have cost him more than four votes is a modest ray of sunshine in an otherwise gloomy picture of a party in shambles.