After years of burnishing his cr
as a conservative hardliner,
Congressman Jim
Jordan is trying to win
over the moderate Republicans
who potentially could be key
to winning the House speakership
Our congressional correspondent
Lauren Fox has a closer
look at the powerful lawmaker
with his eyes on the gavel And l
I like the job I got now.
I never wanted to do this job,
but someone has to
who can who can bring the team t
Jim Jordan,
once a thorn in the side of GOP
now vying to lead them as House
after Kevin
McCarthy was booted from the rol
I disagree with,
you know, what took place,
but those guys are friends of mi
the Ohio congressman,
the chairman
of the powerful Judiciary Commit
Everyone knows the fix is in and
for his aggressive pursuit
of an impeachment inquiry
into President Biden.
This inquiry is so darn importan
It boosted his authority
within the GOP conference
and earned him
the endorsement of Donald Trump.
Jordan voted
against certifying the 2020
election
despite no evidence of widesprea
Americans instinctive
only know there was something wr
with this election
and was involved
in conversations
with the White House
around the time of January 6th,
including a ten minute call with
President Trump
the morning of the attack.
I took the president
a couple times a day,
but I don't remember the times
Kevin McCarthy
nominated him to the January
six committee.
But then House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi rejected him,
and he later defied a subpoena
from the committee to testify.
Committee co-chair
Liz Cheney has criticized Jordan
for speaker.
If the Republicans decide that J
should be the Speaker of the Hou
there would no longer be any
possible way to argue that
a group of
elected Republicans could be cou
to defend the Constitution.
Prior to his time in Congress,
Jordan served as an assistant co
for Ohio
State's wrestling program,
coming under fire
after several former
wrestlers claimed Jordan
knew about the sexual abuse
allegations
involving team doctor
Richard Strauss in 2020.
Six former wrestlers told CNN
they were present
when Jordan heard
or responded to sexual misconduc
complaints about the doctor.
Oh, he heard what I said.
Jordan has emphatically denied
he knew anything about Strauss a
when he worked at OSU.
Between 1987 and 1995.
Strauss died by suicide in 2005.
Look, if I had known
there was some kind of problem,
some kind of abuse,
I'd have to help out our athlete
What they're saying is just not
An independent report
found Strauss sexually
abused at least 177 male student
but did not specifically name Jo
or any wrestling coach at Ohio S
Just that 22 coaches were, quote
aware of rumors
or complaints
about Strauss on Capitol Hill.
Jordan made a name for himself
during the Benghazi hearings
where the false narrative start
started with you, Madam Secretar
But he also gained a reputation
as an agitator for party leaders
as a founding member of the Hous
Freedom Caucus.
He was part of the group
that often tangled with then
Speaker John Boehner,
prompting Boehner to later
call him a legislative terrorist
Now, Jordan says as speaker,
he's the one that will be able
to reunite his deeply divided pa
I think I can do that.
If I didn't think I could do tha
I wouldn't run.
Lauren Fox, CNN, Capitol Hill.
Lauren Fox, thank you very
much for that report.
Let's get some analysis right no
from our political experts there
Gloria Borger. I'll start with y
Jordan could go from
being an election denier
and someone once called
the legislative terrorist
to actually leading the House
Republicans. What's your thought
Well, my thought is what we're s
occur is a campaign conversion.
You know, here
is somebody
who was the head
of the rigged election caucus
who now is trying to convince
moderate Republicans
that he's the guy
to reach across the aisle
when deals need to be done.
Who can deal with moderates
and be a Grown-Up leading the re
in the house of representatives
and anybody who's known jim
jordan knows that he is known
for being an outside agitator.
So now the agitator wants to go
I mean, he could potentially win
because the gang of eight
will probably support him,
the ones who voted against McCar
But we really have to see
how those moderates go
and how other Republicans go.
After his long history
working outside the caucus reall
Scott Jennings.
Will Jim Jordan's controversial
past hurt House
Republicans in competitive races
If he were to be elected
speaker of the House
I don't really think so.
I actually don't think most Amer
care all that much
who the speaker of the House is,
as much as they care
about what the House is doing
and what results
they're getting on legislation
and their priorities.
I will tell you,
I just having talked to a few me
over the last couple of days,
it feels like Jordan's
got some momentum here.
I was even talking to a member
who told me that he's
currently for Scalise
but would also be fine with Jord
So you can see there's some
overlap between the two guys rig
I don't know really who's ahead.
And I think a lot of members
are waiting to hear
about their pitches next week.
But obviously Jordan's come on s
And one person
even told me today that he thoug
Jordan over
the last couple of years
had matured,
that he wasn't quite the agitato
that he had been, that
he's trying to be a broader voic
within the conference.
So I'm interested
to see how it plays out.
Whoever gets it, Wolf,
these rules
that they have to exist under,
if they're the same as the ones
Kevin McCarthy did,
they're going to have as miserab
as he did.
Yeah, that's a good point.
You know, Bakari.
Bakari Sellers is with us as wel
Is there a political benefit
potentially for Democrats
as they try to retake
the House of Representatives
in being able to run
against, let's say, Jim Jordan
as the House
speaker, similar to what Republi
with Nancy Pelosi
Well, I don't know about
if that comparison it's fair,
but your question is definitely
I mean, look,
I think that most people realize
that the odds are
that you're going to have a Spea
Jeffries next November.
I think people realize that.
And the reason be best for her
to go out and articulate a messa
jobs report
we're able to articulate a messa
about the economy growing.
We're able to focus on issues
that really, really matter
to the American public.
And you know what
Republicans mean today
to the American public chaos,
whether or not Jim
Jordan is elected
or Steve Scalise
as it is elected,
or even if you have a Patrick
Patrick McHenry, this elected
that's chaos.
Next week is going to be full of
for the Republican Party.
And Democrats actually represent
somebody who is about to hit
bottom line
and who can make sure
that your pockets are sound
and that the economy is growing.
Look, we are not going to get in
in the chaos
that is the Republican Party.
I admonish any Democrat
that wants to get involved in th
Jim Jordan, Steve Scalise, Donal
whoever it is.
The fact is that
party has not been able to prove
they can lead
and that is the major issue
that they have
going into the next election.
You know,
and I'll add
one thing, Wolf,
that I think Donald Trump
trying to get involved in one wa
or another doesn't necessarily h
Jim Jordan at all.
I think, you know,
Donald Trump getting involved.
This is a personal race.
This is about people
going to Jim Jordan and saying,
what are you going to do
and what are you going to do for
These are very insular races.
And Donald Trump
trying to play kingmaker
doesn't necessarily
work for Jordan at all.
Let me get Scott Jennings to wei
Go ahead, Scott.
Yeah, I'm just to respond to Bak
The idea that Democrats
aren't going to get involved
in this race or weigh in on it
or be worried about
whether the House is going to be
somebody who can work across the
Democrats have already gotten in
Every Democrat voted to throw ou
Kevin McCarthy,
who had just proven that he coul
with Democrats
to keep the government open.
Who is the one person
who had proven over time
that he was willing to talk
to moderates
and conservatives in his confere
and he was a governing
type of Republican.
Now we're guaranteed to get some
who's going
to have to make a bunch of harde
edged promises.
Yes, eight Republicans
voted to throw out McCarthy,
but every Democrat did.
And I actually don't think
they thought through the consequ
of their actions.
The promises that will have to b
to become
the next speaker
are going to be
not acceptable to Democrats.
And they may want to have chaos
for the next year and a half,
but I would submit
that's not good for the American
All right, guys, thank you very.
We'll continue this
conversation down the road.