Representative Don Bacon (R-NE) said Wednesday on CNN’s “The Lead” that Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) should withdraw from the speaker race because he will not get the votes.
Anchor Jake Tapper said, “In fact, Jordan is doing worse than he did yesterday. He had fewer votes than he did yesterday. A spokesman for Jordan said he’s not dropping out. We’re going to “keep going.” Do you see Jordan getting to 217 any time soon, or do you think he will keep doing worse and worse?”
Bacon said, “I believe he’s done. He needs to withdraw from this. He’s going to lose more votes tomorrow. I know it. I know who is going to cross over and change. He doesn’t have a pathway forward to 217.”
He continued, “There’s two different reasons why. We have some group that worked with him going back ten years. They worked with him on appropriations, more senior folks. He’s created a lot of chaos. I’m in the other camp where I don’t like how he got here.”
Bacon added, “The straw that broke my camel’s back was when five Jordan folks said they would never vote for Steve when he won the majority. Jim was there, and he didn’t speak up, which means he is somewhat complicit. You can’t play a game where I’m the only guy playing by the rules and the other guy is not. It’s not American. We believe in fairness, and the law applies to everybody. That wasn’t the case with a small group of individuals here.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN