This Tuesday, it looked like the House GOP might be set to elevate Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) to the role of Speaker, which would cap off the lengthy period of almost nothing happening in the chamber after the forced exit from that role of Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) two weeks ago.
Jordan, though, is known for arguably extremist positions, like helping advance conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election and avidly opposing reproductive rights — the latter descriptor placing him out of step with what polling makes clear over and over again are many, many Americans. And his assistance in spreading those debunked suspicions about the last presidential race helped spur what became damaging and deadly violence.
Michael Fanone, who served as a D.C. police officer at the time of the January 6 attack on the Capitol, during which he was severely injured and after which he eventually retired from the force, sharply criticized Jordan this week. The former officer insisted Jordan wasn’t right for becoming House Speaker.
“Jim Jordan is an insurrectionist who has no place being second in line to the presidency,” Fanone somberly commented. “I witnessed the deadly assault on our democracy with my own eyes, which is why it absolutely disgusts me that extreme Republicans could choose an insurrectionist and election denier as their leader — someone who knew about January 6th ahead of time yet did nothing to stop it. This is a very dark time for our democracy and should serve as a wake up call to all Americans that we can never take our democracy for granted.”
And while this area of concern could also apply to many other Republicans, what would the Congressional process of certifying the 2024 election results look like if Jordan is Speaker, considering he opposed the full certification when Trump lost last time? Since that point, the threshold for even raising objections to particular electoral votes that lead to substantive consideration has been elevated, but was it enough?
