Congressman’s Wife Receives Anonymous Texts Warning Husband to Vote For Jim Jordan: ‘Will Not Hold Any Political Office Ever Again’
X/@Olivia_Beavers & AP Photo/Alex Brandon
The wife of Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) reportedly received anonymous text messages and emails warning her husband to back Rep. Jim Jordan’s (R-OH) House speakership campaign ahead of Tuesday’s vote.
“Jim’s been nice, one-on-one, but his broader team has been playing hardball,” said Bacon in an interview with Politico.
Bacon — who was one of 20 Republicans who voted against Jordan for speaker — also told the news outlet that his wife had received “multiple anonymous emails and texts” pressuring him to vote for Jordan.
Politico reporter Olivia Beavers shared several screenshots of the text messages sent to Bacon’s wife from anonymous senders who refused to identify themselves.
“Why is your husband causing chaos by not supporting Jim Jordan? I thought he was a team player,” read one text, to which Bacon’s wife responded, “Who is this???”
The anonymous sender then warned, “Your husband will not hold any political office ever again. What a disappoint [sic] and failure he is.”
“He has more courage than you. You won’t put your name to your statements,” Bacon’s wife shot back.
In a separate text message, another anonymous sender wrote:
Talk to your husband tell him to step up and 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 the Republican Party you guys take five steps forward and then turn around take 20 steps backwards no wonder our party always ends up getting screwed over.
The aggressive messages seemed to have the opposite effect on Bacon, who voted for ousted speaker Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) on Tuesday instead of Jordan.
Six House Republicans voted for McCarthy over Jordan, while seven voted for House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA), who dropped out of the race last week.
According to Beavers, “Jordan’s vocal GOP defectors during today’s failed speaker vote said they felt pressure to back him by allies/district party bosses/conservatives influencers” and “saw it as a coordinated message: Vote for Jordan or else.”
Fox News host Sean Hannity upset several House Republicans this month after he used his producers to aggressively whip them into voting for Jordan.
After it was reported that House Republicans were “growing increasingly irritated” by Hannity’s pressure campaign, Hannity lashed out at “sensitive little snowflakes in Congress” on his show and said, “I offer no apologies for doing my job and seeking answers from those elected public servants.”
