In a turn of events that was startling but unfortunately not without precedent, multiple Republicans who opposed the failed bid for Speaker from Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) reported receiving threats to their safety and lives in connection to their opposition. One GOP member of the chamber, Rep. Drew Ferguson (Ga.), said a police officer had even taken up station outside his daughter’s school in reaction.
Mark Zaid, a lawyer whose clients have sometimes been quite high-profile amid political matters, commented online about the developments. “These threats are not a joke and individual perpetrators need to be condemned and prosecuted, as was the MAGA supporter who threatened me,” Zaid remarked. His reply threaded through a series of quotes on X (Twitter) to dismissive statements regarding the threats from Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), who appeared to equate the threatening pressure on certain Republicans to earlier campaigns by lobbyists. Lobbyists don’t normally make death threats, though. Perry’s comments seemed like a desperate reach.
Jordan was rejected as the GOP’s pick for Speaker in a secret ballot on Friday after a third failed vote on the House floor. Though enough Republicans had previously supported Jordan’s bid to make him the party’s official selection for House floor votes, opposition within the party persisted to the point that his bid sunk. Democrats have long since indicated their openness to some kind of bipartisan cooperation with Republicans, who have the majority, to get the House moving again, but Republicans keep rebuffing the possibility, with the three-week mark with no Speaker of the House quickly approaching. And in that period, major issues have continued to progress, with government funding now set to run out — again — in less than a month!
Democrats had raised issues with Jordan like his promotion of conspiracy theories after the 2020 presidential election, the results from which he helped oppose.
Agreed. These threats are not a joke and individual perpetrators need to be condemned and prosecuted, as was the MAGA supporter who threatened me.https://t.co/4HJYq4VRDg https://t.co/SdOWLyYMoH
— Mark S. Zaid (@MarkSZaidEsq) October 20, 2023
