WASHINGTON — 1) Nebraska GOP Rep. Don Bacon said his wife slept with a gun for protection after she received threatening phone calls demanding that her husband support Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan’s bid for U.S. House speaker.
Bacon was among a handful of members who reported threats and the targeting of family members after opposing the conservative hardliner’s bid for the speaker’s gavel.
“I didn’t sleep well last night. I called her and I go, ‘How you doing?’ and she said, ‘I slept really good, I had a loaded gun,’” he said Thursday after leaving a Republican conference meeting.
“It was ugly phone calls,” said Bacon, a member of the House Armed Services Committee who served in the U.S. Air Force for nearly 30 years, retiring as a Brigadier General.
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Jordan and his allies employed an aggressive campaign over recent days that included Fox News personality Sean Hannity and conservative talk radio host Glenn Beck stumping for him on air and ridiculing critics.
2) Virginia Rep. Jen Kiggans, who voted against Jordan on the second ballot after supporting him during the first floor vote, told reporters following the closed-door meeting that many lawmakers brought up the threats and intimidation.
“We all share the same conservative values and principles,” Kiggans said. “So to get those threats and to be intimidated by members of our own party was really frustrating, especially for people like me.”
3) Iowa Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, who voted for Jordan on the first ballot but opposed him on the second ballot, said Wednesday in a written statement that she’d received “credible death threats and a barrage of threatening calls.”
Miller-Meeks Statement on Speaker Vote and Death Threats
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, I voted to support Jim Jordan’s candidacy for Speaker of the House. I voted for Jim Jordan for the greater good of the House Republican party, based on our Conference meeting and the test Speaker ballot that was cast earlier this week.
However, after one round of votes, with my support, he was not able to secure enough votes for the Speaker nomination and my initial concerns about threatening tactics of Jim Jordan’s supporters, including from members of Congress, increased despite assurances.
Today, it became abundantly clear early in the roll call vote, that Jim Jordan still did not have the votes necessary to become Speaker. Given the concerns I had before any vote and the ability of the speaker designee to unify the conference, I voted in support of Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Kay Granger to serve as Speaker of the House. I voted for Chairwoman Granger because she has demonstrated great leadership this year by bringing forth, and passing, fiscally responsible, single-subject appropriations bills and is a staunch conservative.
However, since my vote in support of Chairwoman Granger, I have received credible death threats and a barrage of threatening calls. The proper authorities have been notified and my office is cooperating fully.
One thing I cannot stomach, or support is a bully.
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. 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.
Our party needs a consensus candidate so we can get back to the work forwarding appropriations, supporting Israel, and stopping the insane policies of the Biden Administration. Policies that are causing sky high prices and interest rates, an invasion of our southern border, undermining our national security, and bringing countless pounds of fentanyl and other illegal drugs into our country.
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4) Georgia Rep. Drew Ferguson, who supported Jordan on the first floor vote but not the second, said in a written statement that he had “genuine concerns about the threatening tactics and pressure campaigns Jordan and his allies were using to leverage members for their votes.”
“I discussed this directly with Jim, and planned to support him on the second ballot,” Ferguson wrote. “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 the Speaker.”
After voting against Jordan on the floor on Wednesday, Ferguson wrote that he and his family “started receiving death threats.”
“That is simply unacceptable, unforgivable and will never be tolerated,” Ferguson added.
5) Idaho Rep. Mike Simpson, who opposed Jordan on both floor votes, wrote on X on Wednesday that “intimidation and threatening tactics do not — and will not — work.”
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6) Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart of Florida said the “nanosecond” that outside pressure tactics begin “it’s over” for him.
“If you look at the folks that are getting these threats: Don Bacon, retired general of the United States Armed Forces, you know, I don’t know how anybody can think that folks like that can be pressured,” Díaz-Balart said.
Those quoted represent six hard Nays against Jordan and he can afford to lose only four.
