‘Why Is Your Husband Such a Pig?’ Threatening, Sordid Pressure Campaign for Jordan Escalates as House GOP Descends Into Bickering

As Congressman Jim Jordan redoubles his efforts in pursuit of the speakership, the unofficial — and sometimes threatening — pressure campaign against holdouts within the House Republican conference is ramping up, and the conference is descending into petty bickering.At a press conference Friday morning, Mr. Jordan said that “the quickest way to get all this working is to get a speaker elected — that’s what I hope we can do today.”“I think that the American people are thirsty for change. I think they are hungry for leadership,” Mr. Jordan said. “They are looking for House Republicans to step up and lead.”Behind the scenes, though, the pressure campaign against the holdouts in the House GOP — a campaign Mr. Jordan says he has nothing to do with — is getting uglier.In the latest instance of supporters of Mr. Jordan threatening violence against holdouts, a voicemail left for a congressman’s wife threatening to dox her family was released to CNN Thursday evening. CNN did not disclose lawmaker’s name.“Why is your husband such a pig?” the caller said, adding, “So listen, you’re going to keep getting calls and emails. I’m putting all your information over the internet now. Everybody else is.”Another lawmaker opposed to Mr. Jordan’s leadership, Congressman Ken Buck, a longtime member of the House Freedom Caucus, said Thursday on NBC that he’s “been evicted from my office in Colorado” because of his opposition to Mr. Jordan.“I have notice of an eviction because the landlord is mad with my voting record on the speaker issue,” Mr. Buck said. He also said he’d received death threats and more than 20,000 voicemails concerning his vote against Mr. Jordan.Other Representatives, like Congressman Drew Ferguson who supported Mr. Jordan on the first ballot, have had to contact local law enforcement in their district and to ask them to escort his daughter to and from school. “Shortly after casting that vote” against Mr. Jordan, he said, his “family and I started receiving death-threats. That is simply unacceptable, unforgivable, and will never be tolerated.”Whipping support for Mr. Jordan has become a major project of not only his constituents and supporters in the general public, but also members of the conservative commentariat.A Fox News host, Sean Hannity, for one, has been supporting Mr. Jordan’s candidacy. His producers have been pressing congressional staffers on why their bosses won’t support Mr. Jordan, who was endorsed by former President Trump early in the race for speaker.“And if true, Hannity would like to know why, during a war breaking out between Israel and Hamas, with the war in Ukraine, with the wide open borders, with a budget that’s unfinished, why would Rep. xxxx be against Rep. Jim Jordan for Speaker?” an e-mail to one representative obtained by Axios, which did not disclose the name of the member, reads.The note went on to ask whether the representative “will choose to work with Democrats on the process of electing a new speaker?”A conservative radio host, Glen Beck, has also taken to trying to whip up support for Mr. Jordan, telling constituent: “Call your member and tell them to vote for Jim Jordan.”“If you’re living in a district with a weenie, wishy-washy Republican, call them and politely warn that if they don’t elect a truly conservative House Speaker, we will campaign against you. And we will find your replacement,” Mr. Beck said in a tweet.These kinds of pressure tactics may not be working, with some representatives digging in.“Steve Scalise is an honorable man and has earned my vote for speaker,” Congresswoman Kay Granger said. “This was a vote of conscience and I stayed true to my principles. Intimidation and threats will not change my position.”Mr. Scalise defeated Mr. Jordan to win the nomination for speaker last week, but quickly dropped out when he realized he faced a brutal battle to win on the House floor. Mr. Jordan was then nominated.His supporters’ pressure tactics haven’t worked on Congresswoman Jen Kiggins, who simply said that “threats and intimidation tactics will not change my principles and values.”As the pressure campaign in support of Mr. Jordan and the backlash against it plays out, others in the conference have taken to personal insults and bickering.Congresswoman Nancy Mace, for one, has been fighting with Congressman Greg Murphy, who blocked her on X, over her vote to remove Speaker McCarthy from his position, saying that there are “too many men here with no balls.”“If you want to vote against the people who elected you that’s on you @RepGregMurphy, but I’m gonna stand with them, not Washington,” Ms. Mace said.Mr. Murphy has blamed Mr. Mace for the conference’s descent into chaos, saying to Ms. Mace, “How about apologizing for causing this mess?”In another example of personal bickering, Mr. McCarthy lashed out at the engineer of his removal, Congressman Matt Gaetz, in an exchange Thursday, telling reporters that he’d told Mr. Gaetz to “sit down.”“I think the entire conference screamed at him,” Mr. McCarthy said. “Listen, I think the whole country would scream at Gaetz right now.”

‘Why Is Your Husband Such a Pig?’ Threatening, Sordid Pressure Campaign for Jordan Escalates as House GOP Descends Into Bickering

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