Congressional Democrats jeered at Representative Elise Stefanik's nominating speech for Representative Jim Jordan in the election to become the next Speaker of the House on Tuesday.
Republicans nominated Jordan, an Ohio Republican known as a conservative firebrand, in the speaker race after weeks of turmoil over who should lead Congress' lower chamber. Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was ousted on October 3 in a conservative revolt after he secured a short-term funding deal to avert a government shutdown, leaving the House without a leader for weeks. The brouhaha is set to continue in the coming days, as Jordan fell short of the votes needed to become speaker as centrist Republicans refused to support him.
Stefanik, a New York Republican, delivered the GOP's nominating speech early Tuesday afternoon, praising his leadership in the Republican Party.
"Jim is the voice of the American people who have felt voiceless for far too long. Whether as judiciary chair, conservative leader or representative for his constituents in west central Ohio. Whether on the wrestling mat or in the committee room, Jim Jordan is strategic, scrappy, tough and principled," Stefanik said.
Her comments elicited vocal reactions from House Democrats. She referred to Jordan's past experience serving as the Ohio State University's assistant wrestling coach. Critics have raised concerns about accusations that Jordan failed to act on allegations of sexual abuse aimed at OSU team doctor Richard Strauss. The allegations against Jordan first emerged in 2018, and he has denied that he knew of the abuse allegations at the time.
Several Democrats could be heard saying, "woah," as Stefanik spoke, though she ignored the response and continued on with her speech. Newsweek reached out to her office for comment via email.
Video capturing Democrats' reaction went viral online, being viewed more than 150,000 times on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, where many Jordan critics also reacted to the moment.
"Wrestling mat??? Jim Jordan??? #SMDH" posted National Democratic Committee Chair Jaime Harrison.
"The absolute shamelessness for Stefanik to mention Jordan and a wrestling mat when his own former students are asking Republicans not to nominate him for Speaker because of how dangerous he is. No wonder there were gasps in the room," wrote Alexandra De Luca, the vice president of communications for the PAC American Bridge 21st Century.
Twenty Republicans joined all Democrats in opposing Jordan's potential speakership, and he could only afford to lose three votes, due to Republicans' slim majority. GOP Congressman Gus Bilirakis was absent due to personal reasons, lowering the number of defections he could afford.
It remains unclear whether he would be able to win those defectors on a second ballot. Many of them come from districts won by President Joe Biden in 2020 or are otherwise viewed as competitive, meaning supporting Jordan could leave them vulnerable to constituent backlash at home.
Representative Lori Chaves-DeRemer, a Republican who represents a Biden-won district in Oregon and backed McCarthy, for instance, wrote in a statement she was "deeply concerned" that Congress' chaos would continue if Jordan were elected speaker.
Four of the former OSU wrestlers who have accused Jordan of failing to protect them have said Jordan is not a suitable candidate to serve as House speaker. Jordan's spokesperson Russell Dye previously told Newsweek: "Chairman Jordan never saw or heard of any abuse, and if he had, he would have dealt with it."
