House Democrats have obvious legislative concerns about Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan being elected speaker of the House.
As Joy Reid explained on the ReidOut last night, Jordan’s career in the House has seemingly been spent debasing the body’s decorum and official processes.
He hasn’t introduced a single bill that’s been signed into law, he’s reduced congressional hearings to shouting matches, and he defied a congressional subpoena concerning his role in then-President Donald Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election.
But Democrats clearly see a political advantage to having a highly controversial figure like Jordan as a prominent face of the GOP in the lead-up to the 2024 elections.
Take California Rep. Brad Sherman, for example, who told Forbes on Monday that having Jordan as speaker could be politically useful for Democrats because he’d be a “disaster,” calling him “among the worst speakers we could have.”
This seems to be the prevailing wisdom among House Democrats.
NBC News’ Sahil Kapur reported Tuesday on a memo sent out by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee that frames how Democrats should portray a Jordan speakership to the public. Among the messaging suggestions for the caucus: “Every Republican who votes for Jordan for Speaker is simply following Trump’s marching orders — it’s clear Republicans are incapable of governing themselves and instead look to the indicted former president for guidance on everything.”
Other suggestions highlight Jordan’s extremist ties and claim these will make him incapable of reaching bipartisan agreement on a host of important issues.
“If someone shows you who they are, believe them,” the memo says. “Congressman Jordan has shown voters just how extreme he is and there is no indication that he’ll moderate himself in any way if he becomes speaker. In fact, he’ll pull the entire Republican caucus even further to the right.”
That claim, alleging that Jordan as speaker would force his party to comply with his extremist ambitions, has already been used by House Democrats looking to put vulnerable Republicans in a vise.
New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told CNN on Monday that voting for Jordan could be politically fatal for New York Republicans whose districts voted for Joe Biden in the 2020 election. “We’ll see if individuals like Mike Lawler or Marc Molinaro, who represent New Yorkers in Hudson Valley, the Catskills, Westchester County, will actually vote to install a man who voted to overturn the United States’ election and who supports a national abortion ban to be speaker of the House and second in line to the presidency.”
AOC: We will see if individuals like Mike Lawler or Marc Molinaro who represent New Yorkers… will actually vote to install a man who voted to overturn the election and who supports a national abortion ban to be Speaker… pic.twitter.com/mQlUjPj3Dn
— Acyn (@Acyn) October 17, 2023
California Rep. Eric Swalwell appeared to have some fun jabbing Lawler after the latter said he would “probably” support Jordan’s speaker bid if he had enough votes to win.
“I don’t remember ever meeting Mike Lawler,” Swalwell posted on the social media platform X. “I’ve seen him on television a lot saying he’s a moderate. And now he’s making Jim Jordan speaker? Now I’ll probably never get the chance to meet this one-term wonder.”
I don’t remember ever meeting Mike Lawler. I’ve seen him on television a lot saying he’s a moderate. And now he’s making Jim Jordan speaker? Now I’ll probably never get the chance to meet this one-term wonder. https://t.co/ksWCLyM9db
— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) October 16, 2023
Democrats have already released a lowlight reel of Jordan that calls him too extreme to be speaker and labeling him “dangerous, destructive, divisive.”
MAGA extremist Jim Jordan is unfit to be Speaker of the House. pic.twitter.com/T2pt0smXj3
— House DPCC (@HouseDPCC) October 17, 2023
Democrats are making the best out of an awful situation by spinning Jordan’s potential speakership into a GOP political liability, in the hope that it just might make them favorites to regain control of the House next fall.
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog.