Raw Story

Rep. Jim Jordan's (R-OH) bid for the speakership is in grave peril after he lost for the third time on Friday by an even wider margin than on the first two ballots.

Jordan's allies aren't giving up, however, and they are launching desperate new plans to save his campaign.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Jordan's allies now want to have a secret ballot within the conference to gauge his true support among members, which they hope will show Jordan's nemeses within the party that they are a small minority.

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“If he is still the designee, we come back and vote – and that’s the will of the conference,” said Jordan ally Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY). “It’s not one person dragging everybody through this."

An even wilder plan is being pushed by Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), one of the eight Republicans who voted earlier this month to oust Rep. Kevin McCarthy as speaker.

In a letter posted on her Twitter account, Mace said that she and the other eight Republicans who voted to give McCarthy the boot would be willing to accept "censure, suspension or removal from the conference" at the hands of their fellow Republicans so long as they voted to make Jordan speaker.

However, there is a problem with Mace's letter: Namely, not everyone who supposedly signed it appears to be on board.

Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO), who voted to oust McCarthy and who has also declined to back Jordan, told conservative journalist Michael Warren that he did not sign the letter despite the fact that his name is on it.

Editor's note: This report has been updated to include a response from GOP U.S. Rep. Ken Buck.

House Republicans who voted to remove Kevin McCarthy as Speaker now say they are willing to accept punishment, including censure, suspension, or removal from the GOP conference itself, if Republican "holdouts" opposed to Jim Jordan flip and vote for him to become Speaker.

"So we've made them an offer," U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), the leader of the effort that successfully ousted McCarthy, said on the steps of Capitol Hill Friday. "The eight of us have said that we are willing to accept censure, sanction, suspension, removal from the Republican conference."

"But if what these holdouts need is a pound of our flesh, we're willing to give it to them in order to see them elect Jim Jordan for Speaker," Gaetz declared. He added, "for those who are holding out we would simply ask you what do you want, other than for us to suffer some consequence which we stand ready to endure."

He did not say if their offer required all "holdouts" to vote for Jordan, or just enough to hand the far-right Ohio Judiciary Chairman the gavel.

READ MORE: ‘This Is All a Game for a Lot of Them’: MSNBC Conservative Slams GOP as Jordan Fails Again

Calling Jordan "an inspirational Republican candidate for House Speaker," Gaetz, who has indicated he wants to run for governor of Florida, did some campaigning on the Capitol steps.

"I think the world was on fire when America sat atop a $33 trillion debt with no plan to reduce spending. I think the world was on fire as we watched the dollar just continue to slip away in its status as the global reserve currency."

In a Friday "Dear Colleague" letter (below) the far-right Republicans affirm they stand by their actions but acknowledge their "Motion to Vacate the Speaker has caused rancor, hurt feelings and acrimony in the House Republican Conference."

"It has been suggested the Conference cannot move forward until there are consequences for each of us," and that "some in the Conference wish to punish us."

They write, "if the holdouts who refuse to vote for Speaker-Designate Jordan would be willing to 'vote with the team' and elect him the 56th House Speaker, we are prepared to accept censure, suspension, or removal from the Conference to accomplish this objective."

READ MORE: ‘Red Herring’: Death Threats Against GOP Lawmakers Are Overblown Says Top Jordan Ally

The letter includes the following names: Andy Biggs, Ken Buck, Tim Burchett, Eli Crane, Matt Gaetz, Bob Good, Nancy Mace, and Matt Rosendale. But U.S. Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO), who is opposed to Jordan, quickly responded saying he did not agree to add his name.

The Dispatch's Mike Warren reports: "Just asked Ken Buck why he's on this letter. 'I'm not,' he said."

Meanwhile., CNN's Melanie Zanona observed they are, "Basically offering themselves as tribute in last-ditch attempt to help Jordan."

Watch the video and read their letter below or at this link.

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL): “The 8 of us have said that we are willing to accept censure, sanction, suspension, removal from the Republican conference… If what these holdouts need is a pound of our flesh, we're willing to give it to them...to see them elect Jim Jordan for Speaker.” pic.twitter.com/DaWKebHhhR
— The Recount (@therecount) October 20, 2023

BREAKING: All 8 Republicans Who Voted to Remove McCarthy From Speakership Are Willing to Accept “Censure, Suspension, or Removal From the Conference” In Order to Elect @Jim_Jordan as Speaker
“If the holdouts who refuse to vote for Speaker-Designate Jim Jordan would be willing to… pic.twitter.com/FKBKrzgwvc — Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) October 20, 2023

Anti-Trump attorney George Conway on Thursday took a shot at evangelical Christians who remain loyal to former President Donald Trump despite – or because of – his multiple indictments on charges related to making hush-money payments to an adult film star, illegally retaining top-secret government documents, and trying to illegally remain in power after losing the 2020 election.

Writing on Twitter, Conway delivered a Trumpian refresh of the Bible's 10 commandments that come with carveouts aimed at excusing Trump's years of un-Christian behavior.

"Honor thy father and thy mother, and burieth thy mother on thy father’s golf course," reads one commandment.

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"Thou shalt not commit adultery, but if thou shalt do so with thy porn star, thou shalt payeth her off through an intermediary and falsifieth thy accounting record," reads another.

Conway even used the commandment against stealing to poke fun at Trump's habit of misspelling the word "stolen" as "stollen."

"Thou shalt not steal, unless thou needeth to steeleth one moreth than a certain number of popular votes or unless thou can hideth thy stollen documents at thy bathroom in thy resort," he wrote.

Conway's post was inspired by a separate Twitter post by Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL), who credited the power of prayer for the victory of Trump ally Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) in the GOP's House speaker election.

See the full list of Trumpy 10 commandments here.

Right-wing broadcaster Steve Bannon expressed frustration on Wednesday over Rep. Jim Jordan's (R-OH) flailing battle to become House speaker.

During an interview on Bannon's War Room podcast, Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT) told Bannon that Jordan had yet to meet with the 20 lawmakers who voted against him.

"But hasn't he been even in a struggle session for those people?" Bannon asked. "We're going in reverse."

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"I don't think that he actually took the people specifically that voted against him and got in a room with them," Rosendale confirmed.

"My God," Bannon gasped, lowering his head. "What an operation."

The podcaster then encouraged his audience to call Jordan's opponents.

READ MORE: Melania claim by Mitt Romney prompts furious response from Trump team

"This is a fight we've wanted for a long time," he said. "This gets down to reality."

Watch the video below from Real America's Voice.

Ron DeSantis seemingly walked into a question on Donald Trump's mishandling of classified documents during an appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."

The Florida governor and 2024 Republican presidential candidate made a rare appearance outside of conservative media Tuesday, speaking to host Joe Scarborough during a brief interview that focused primarily on the Hamas attack on Israel.

But DeSantis tried to deliver a campaign message shortly before the program ended.

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"Going forward as Republicans, you know, my argument has been very simple," DeSantis said. "If the election is about Joe Biden's failures and our positive vision for the future, which it would be if I was the candidate, we will win. If it is about what piece of paper or document was left at the toilet at Mar-a-Lago, or all these other things on Jan. 6, if that's what the election is about, then it is going to allow Biden to be in his basement and they're going to be able to do it again.

"Just a question for Republicans about what you want to be talking about?"

That left an opening for Scarborough to ask his opinion on Trump's indictment on 40 counts in federal court for retaining classified documents and stashing them in his bathroom and other areas of his beach resort.

"You talk about the toilet as something being -- that really brings up an issue I wasn't going to bring up," Scarborough said. "Let me ask you really quickly, we're about to run out of time. Should Americans be concerned, are you concerned by the fact that President Trump revealed war plans to invade Iran, military attacks against Iran to people that didn't have classified ability to see those documents?"

DeSantis, like most of the former president's Republican challengers, has only indirectly criticized Trump's alleged crimes, which have resulted in indictments in four jurisdictions and 91 charges.

"Well, look, I think that's an allegation, it remains to be seen," DeSantis said. "Obviously if it is proven, that would be a difficult thing. I would note, I think this is why a lot of Republicans are concerned about some of these cases is that he was being attacked for years as being in collusion with Russia, and that was not accurate.

"That was a false narrative that was created, and so I would be remiss if I dove in and accepted all those things. I think he has his day in court, I think he's innocent until proven guilty. The reality is we're dealing with this situation and if the elections is a referendum on all the other issues and we're not talking about inflation and interest rates and the border and crime, then that gives the Democrats a huge advantage to try to retain power."

Scarborough asked whether the election becoming a referendum on Trump, rather than the current president, would be bad news for Republicans.

"I think a referendum on Joe Biden means we win," DeSantis said. "If I'm the candidate, I think a referendum on Donald Trump, if that's it, then I think the Democrats would win. There are millions of voters out there who don't like what Biden is doing, think the country is in the wrong direction, going in the wrong direction. They want to vote for a Republican, but once it is Donald Trump, that's just a deal breaker for them.

"They just won't do it. I saw a report, I think on your network, someone said it was a Republican, he said it didn't matter, he would do Biden. That's just a reality that Republicans have to face up to if we want to win and we saw these losses in the most recent elections. Let's give them a fresh, America a chance for a fresh start, and I think that the results will be very positive for us."

Watch the video below or at this link.

10 10 2023 09 55 42 youtu.be

In the wake of he worst terror attack in Israel's history being carried out by Hamas, people are wondering if the House, led by Acting Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry, has the power to respond, Politico reported.

As the fallout from the attack escalates, there's fear that a new speaker won't be elected this week. But as Politico points out, Republicans are hoping the attack provides a "rally-around-the-flag moment" for the party.

“Our hope is that this whole situation would be clarifying for our membership, that we need to get our shit together and elect a new speaker,” one senior GOP aide told Politico. “Because stuff like this can happen … and we’re rudderless and leaderless.”

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The current crisis in the Middle East also brings up the question as to whether the House in its current state could function if a similar tragedy struck in the United States.

“What if we were in the kind of scenario for which the rule was originally drafted? Would we actually want a speaker with limited powers/who could only drive the House towards the election of a new speaker?” Molly Reynolds, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, told ABC.

“I’m not sure, and I worry that setting a precedent now could hamstring the House in a future crisis.”

Read the full op-ed over at Politico.