Don Bacon says his wife received anonymous messages after he opposed Jordan speakership

Don Bacon says his wife received anonymous messages after he opposed Jordan speakership

October 18, 2023 08:23 AM

As Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) works to garner the necessary 217 votes to become House speaker, some are going to extreme measures to secure support for him within the Republican conference.

After 20 House Republicans rejected Jordan in the first round of voting for a new speaker on Tuesday, Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), who did not vote for Jordan, said his wife received several threatening messages from an unknown number.

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Bacon’s wife was reportedly sent several texts following the vote asking why he wasn’t being a team player and urging her to talk to him.

“Talk to your husband tell him to step up be a leader and help the Republican Party get a speaker there’s too much going on in the world for all this going on in Republican Party you guys take five steps forward and then turn around and take 20 steps backwards no wonder our party always ends up getting screwed over,” read one such message posted to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

The Washington Examiner reached out to Bacon’s office for confirmation.

According to an additional message, she was asked, “Why is your husband causing chaos by not supporting Jim Jordan? I thought he was a team player.”

When Bacon’s wife asked the unknown sender for his or her name, the sender did not provide it. Instead, he or she said, “Your husband will not hold any political office ever again. What a disappoint and failure he is.”

“These threats are wrong and should stop,” a spokesperson for Jordan said in a comment to the Washington Examiner.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Bacon, alongside multiple others, voted for former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) on Tuesday’s ballot. Meanwhile, some conference members voted for Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA). Scalise initially beat Jordan in a closed-door conference vote for speaker nominee before dropping out of the race because he struggled to lock down enough GOP support to bring it to the House floor for a vote.

The Ohio Republican had planned to return to the House floor for another vote Tuesday evening but called it a night when it became clear that more conference opposition was emerging. Instead, the House is expected to take up another vote around 11 a.m. Wednesday.

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