As the House of Representatives enters its 16th day without a speaker, it’s unclear if Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan will make a third go of it on Thursday after two unsuccessful attempts at the gavel this week.
But some GOP lawmakers say that they’ve received threats and menacing calls and messages to their offices for not supporting the Ohio Republican.
Iowa Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, who backed Jordan in the first vote on Tuesday, said that she has “received credible death threats and a barrage of threatening calls” since switching her support to Texas Rep. Kay Granger on Wednesday.
“The proper authorities have been notified and my office is cooperating fully,” she said in a statement.
“One thing I cannot stomach, or support is a bully,” Miller-Meeks said. “Someone who threatens another with bodily harm or tries to suppress differing opinions undermines opportunity for unity and regard for freedom of speech. That’s why I spoke out forcefully against censorship and suppression during the COVID-19 pandemic. I did not stand for bullies before I voted for Chairwoman Granger and when I voted for Speaker designee Jordan, and I will not bend to bullies now.”
“I understand that voting against Rep Jordan is not popular at this time,” she added. “I respected Jim enough to vote for him, knowing he did not have the votes to be elected. We have had numerous calls to all our offices, and many have urged that I support Jim Jordan and many others urged me to look for a conservative consensus candidate.”
Miller-Meeks was not alone. New York Rep. Nick LaLota, who backed former GOP Rep. Lee Zeldin in both votes, shared on social media an email message that he received which encouraged him to “go f*** yourself and die” and threatened him with bodily harm.
Georgia Rep. Drew Ferguson also described receiving death threats after he switched his vote from Jordan in the first vote to House Majority Leader Steve Scalise in the second. After the first vote, Ferguson said, he had "genuine concerns about the threatening tactics and pressure campaigns" from Jordan and his allies, which he said he shared with the Ohio Republican.
"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 a leader," Ferguson said in a statement. "I cast my vote for Majority Leader Steve Scalise, a principled conservative and unifying leader."
"Shortly after casting that vote, my family and I started receiving death-threats," he continued. That is simply unacceptable, unforgivable, and will never be tolerated."
Idaho Rep. Mike Simpson, who twice voted for Scalise, wrote in a social media post that “intimidation and threatening tactics do not - and will not - work.”
Other lawmakers have described a pressure campaign to make Jordan speaker. Nebraska Rep. Don Bacon, a centrist holdout, told POLITICO that his wife received multiple emails and texts lobbying for her husband’s support of Jordan.
One lawmaker said he was threatened for backing Jordan.
"I was threatened for supporting Jim Jordan so I reported the threat to the Capitol Police," Indiana Rep. Jim Banks wrote on social media. "I didn’t blame the Republicans who voted against Jim Jordan."
Jordan, for his part, condemned the threats as “just wrong.”
“It should never happen,” the Ohio Republican told CNN. “It’s just wrong, and we don’t want it to happen to anyone, any American, anybody, any member of Congress. It’s just wrong.”
“No American should accost another for their beliefs,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday evening. "We condemn all threats against our colleagues and it is imperative that we come together. Stop. It’s abhorrent.”
“This is abhorrent and has no place in civil discourse,” Russell Dye, Jordan’s spokesperson, said in a statement to Spectrum News. “No one should receive threats and it needs to stop. We have condemned these actions repeatedly. It is important that Republicans stop attacking each other and come together.”