The stalemate over the next House speaker has been the talk of town as the impasse has paralyzed the functioning of the House for more than two weeks. As Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OHIO) failed to clinch the position on his third try, Mary Trump, the niece of Donald Trump, offered her take on the development.
What Happened: Commenting on a Washington Post feature that called Jordan a “Relentless Wrestler,” Mary Trump said in a video that the WaPo story looked like a “puff piece.” The Ohio State sexual abuse scandal, which Jordan has denied knowing anything about despite his being an assistant wrestling coach at the time, wasn’t mentioned until much later in the article, she said.
The Ohio representative’s involvement in the planning of the insurrection and his vote against certifying the 2020 election only received a passing mention, Mary Trump, a psychologist, further noted.
Referring to the use of the wrestling analogy in the WaPo story, Mary Trump said, “Whether on the mats or in the halls of Congress, Jordan's dial is turned to the same setting: relentless aggression.”
When the abuse allegations became public, Jordan was near the height of his political powers, Mary Trump argued. She noted that the Ohio Congressman was Donald Trump’s staunchest ally and sycophant — “a personal pit bull,” who, on her uncle’s orders, led against anyone who didn’t “didn't support Donald 100%” or sought to hold him accountable.
At the time, Jordan’s office issued a blanket denial, the ex-president’s niece said. “Calling the timing of the wrestlers' disclosures ‘suspect,’ Jordan challenged the credibility of his former pupils and pounced on their vulnerabilities,” she said, adding that his proxies accused those who criticized him of being part of a conspiracy.
“Donald, with the bully-pulpit of the Oval Office at his disposal, called the wrestlers liars saying, ‘I don't believe them at all,'” Mary Trump said.
Why It’s Important: Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif) was voted out of the position after the far-right wing of the GOP accused him of yielding to Democrats in negotiations to avert a government shutdown.
Jordan lost out in the three rounds of election held on the House floor, with several of his own GOP colleagues rejecting him. This has left the party without a nominee or clear path forward.
Mary Trump, in an earlier Substack post, suggested the idea of a handful of “sane, pro-democracy Republicans” coming forward to support Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) as the next speaker. She, however, sees the possibility as slim. “There are no sane, pro-democracy Republicans,” she said.
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