As Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan continues his quest to become Speaker of the House despite losing votes of his fellow Republicans the pressure campaign attacking GOP Members of Congress voting against this is hitting new highs. One top Jordan ally Friday morning dismissed them, suggesting they are overblown by calling them a “red herring.”
“All of us in Congress receive death threats, I don’t think that’s a news flash for anybody,” U.S. Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA), who is also the chair of the far-right Freedom Caucus, told reporters.
“There are people out in the world that dislike us and threaten us. That’s nothing new. It’s nothing new to any member of Congress. We all know it. That is another red herring,” Perry said, adding, “no one seemed to mind the pressure campaign from all the lobbyists and special interests in Washington, D.C.” in January when Kevin McCarthy was running to become Speaker.
Perry had “direct involvement in the Trump administration’s plan to overturn the 2020 presidential election,” WITF reported last year, citing information from the U.S. House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack.
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Congressman Perry did not respond when one reporter asked, “Are death threats the same as lobbyists’ emails?”
CNN’s Jake Tapper Thursday night confronted another Jordan supporter, U.S. Rep. Mike McCaul (R-TX), the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, with one example of the threats and intimidation Jordan’s GOP objectors are facing. The anchor played a profane and threatening voicemail left by an anonymous caller for the wife of a Republican Congressman who opposes Jordan becoming Speaker.
“Several of those lawmakers who oppose Jim Jordan’s bid for Speaker are now receiving credible and terrifying death threats,” Tapper told McCaul. “Over the weekend it was made clear that supporters of Jordan’s were going to launch a pressure campaign that apparently had Jordan’s blessing until last night. And in the intervening time, well, it got pretty ugly, and we have some exclusive audio right now of a threatening message that was left as a voicemail for the wife of one of the Republican lawmakers who opposes Jordan.”
Tapper played the audio, warning, “this is pretty ugly stuff.”
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The audio begins with a voice saying: “Why is your husband such a pig? Why would he get on TV and make an asshole of himself? Because he’s a deep-state prick? Because he doesn’t represent the people?”
“So what we’re going to do is we’re going to do … is we’re going to fucking come follow you all over the place. We’re gonna be up your ass. Fucking nonstop. We’re going to be Antifa,” the caller says.
“We’re going to do what the left does,” the caller continued, referring to her lawmaker husband as a “f**king f****t,” a “warmongering piece of s**t,” and Kevin McCarthy as a “piece of s**t.”
“So listen, you’re gonna keep getting calls and emails. I’m putting all your information over the internet now. Everybody else is and you will not be left alone,” the caller warned, and added to their threat: “you’re going to be f**king molested like you can’t ever imagine. Again, non-violently.”
After the audio played, Tapper told McCaul, “that’s disgusting. That is disgusting. The pressure campaign for Jordan was announced over the weekend. Calls like that started happening immediately. Jordan didn’t denounce it until last night. What is going on in your party?”
McCaul responded, “Well, this shows you the level of political discourse in this country now.”
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“No. In your party, sir. In your party,” Tapper stressed.
“I think it’s despicable,” McCaul replied. “And I wouldn’t say Jordan is responsible for all that. But there is this faction that has just hatred that you heard on that phone call, and no member deserves that kind of treatment from any constituent. And I quite frankly Jake, worry about the safety of members back home, the ones that maybe didn’t support Jordan, having these sorts of threats back home in their districts. I remember Gabby Giffords very well when she was shot in the head and barely survived. I’m very concerned about the safety of members, not only back home, but up here. If this is the level of my party, I think it’s in the gutter that we need to get out of the gutter right now.”
Tapper replied, “this is one of the reasons why there are more than 20 people voting against Jim Jordan.”
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