October 09, 2023 02:47 PM UTC

Lauren Boebert Is A Poor Character Reference For "Gym" Jordan

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• by: Colorado Pols

As CNN reports today, the jockeying to succeed ousted Republican Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy intensified over the weekend, and although two hard-right conservative Republican Reps. Steve Scalise and Jim Jordan are formally competing there’s no guarantee that either one will be able to win a majority vote:

House Republicans remain badly divided over their two choices for speaker in the aftermath of the ouster of Kevin McCarthy from the speakership, and several members are privately floating dark-horse candidates in case neither House Majority Leader Steve Scalise nor House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan can get the 217 votes needed to be elected speaker.

The magic number to win the speakership is 217 because of two vacancies in the chamber.

The discussions underway underscore the deep uncertainty that exists this week as Republicans struggle to coalesce behind a speaker following last week’s unprecedented events when eight Republicans joined with Democrats to remove McCarthy from the speakership.

House Judiciary Committee chairman Jim Jordan obtained the endorsement of former President Donald Trump on Friday, at least temporarily putting to rest the outlandish yet theoretically possible idea of Trump himself serving as Speaker. Jordan also has the full-throated support of Colorado’s premiere provocateur, Rep. Lauren Boebert, who as the Washington Examiner reports is ready to cast off the easy motion to vacate process demanded of McCarthy that wound up ending McCarthy’s chairmanship:

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) signaled she would be willing to repeal House rules on motions to vacate but only if House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) is selected as the next House speaker to replace Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA)…

“I’m willing to ditch the Motion To Vacate with Jim Jordan as Speaker,” Boebert wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “The House has a lot of work ahead, let’s get this over with and take our country back!”

The reason Boebert loves Jordan is the same reason sane Republicans dread Jordan winning the speakership. Unlike McCarthy, Jordan is far more likely to commit the House to a prolonged government shutdown without regard to the consequences than McCarthy was. Speaker Jordan would mark the end of any possibility of agreements like those McCarthy brokered to raise the nation’s debt limit and then keep the government running a week ago. At the same time, Speaker Jordan will fast-track the tit-for-tat impeachment obsession that McCarthy tried to keep at arm’s length.

Jordan’s immoderate record has forced him to undertake a humiliating reinvention tour to prove to moderate Republicans that his reputation as an obstreperous nuisance is a bum rap, and he can be trusted two heartbeats from the Oval Office. But in addition to Jordan’s record in Congress, there’s another longstanding skeleton in Jordan’s closet that could well resurface if the contest turns acrimonous:

[A] former captain of Ohio State University’s wrestling team told a hearing in Columbus that Jordan knew wrestlers on his team were being sexually abused when he served as its assistant coach from 1987 to 1995…

Although Jordan has repeatedly insisted he didn’t know team doctor Richard Strauss was sexually mistreating athletes in his charge, former OSU wrestler Adam DiSabato called Jordan a “liar” at a Tuesday House Civil Justice Committee hearing on a bill that would let Strauss’ victims sue Ohio State for damages. DiSabato also said Jordan contacted him repeatedly in July 2018, after media outlets quoted his brother, Michael DiSabato, saying Jordan knew about Strauss’ abuse.

The investigation into this case found that almost 180 students were sexually abused, and Ohio State University paid over $40 million to settle the case. That settlement left accountability for Rep. Jordan unresolved, a case of Jordan’s word versus students who insist to this day that “Jim Jordan saw all of it.”

The allegation that Rep. Jordan knew about and covered up abuse at Ohio State University is, to put it mildly, a complicated subject for Lauren Boebert to engage. Earlier this year, Boebert herself faced similar questions after one of her own kids called police alleging abuse at the hands of Boebert’s now-estranged husband. Boebert’s credibility in this regard is further undermined by a week of lies about her deplorable conduct at the Buell Theater last month before video proof forced her to apologize.

We don’t know to what extent Jordan is relying on Boebert to persuade fellow House members to hold their nose and take the Freedom Caucus plunge. What we can say is that Boebert is Jordan’s biggest cheerleader in Colorado, and the two do not complement one another.

Or…they complement one another perfectly.