Ex-OSU wrestlers warn Jim Jordan shouldn't be Speaker: he didn't 'stand up for his guys'

A group of former wrestlers from Ohio State University are warning that Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) should not be made the next Speaker of the House, criticizing him for his conduct during the sexual abuse scandal when he worked as a wrestling coach at the school, NBC News reported on Tuesday.

"'Do you really want a guy in that job who chose not to stand up for his guys?' said former OSU wrestler Mike Schyck, one of the hundreds of former athletes and students who say they were sexually abused by school doctor Richard Strauss and have sued the university. 'Is that the kind of character trait you want for a House speaker?'" reported Corky Siemaszko. "The wrestlers’ decisions to weigh in adds a new dimension to the speaker race, bringing in a controversial part of Jordan’s past that continues to hang over the Ohio Republican and staunch ally of former President Donald Trump."

Survivors of the abuse have long accused Jordan of knowing about Strauss' predatory behavior and doing nothing to protect the student athletes in his charge. He has denied any wrongdoing and has never been charged with any sort of criminal conduct in the scandal himself.

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"Dunyasha Yetts, another former OSU wrestler who has publicly and repeatedly accused Jordan of lying about not knowing what Strauss was doing to the athletes, said the congressman’s 'hypocrisy is unbelievable,'" noted the report. "'He doesn’t deserve to be House speaker,' Yetts said. 'He still has to answer for what happened to us.'"

Jordan, a firebrand who has been leading the charge to investigate law enforcement for probing former President Donald Trump, is competing with House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) to succeed Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), who was ousted from the speakership in a historic, first-of-its-kind vote last week orchestrated by far-right Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), plunging the GOP's narrow House majority into chaos and shutting down most business in the chamber.

All of this is unfolding as the House has only a few weeks to pass a long-term funding package to avert a federal government shutdown.