Six ways Jim Jordan and Steve Scalise are creepy

The tastelessness test presently pits Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Steve Scalise (R-LA) in a contest to determine who is most MAGA while not seeming so MAGA as to offend the hundreds of Republican members of Congress who bow to MAGA but are furious at MAGA-on-steroids extremist wing of the party.

One interesting historical note that has long been forgotten: It’s not the first time Jordan and Scalise have been pitted as rivals. In 2012, House Speaker John Boehner replaced Jordan with Scalise as head of the Republican Study Committee. Here’s how Bloomberg reported it:

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“The Republican Study Committee is the lodestar of the conservative right and Jordan had frequently challenged Boehner. But the elevation of Scalise, whom conservatives view as more loyal to the Republican leadership than to principle, has angered many of the committee’s more than 160 members.”

So score one for Jordan with the far right. But the term “conservative” wasn’t as directly synonymous with “unhinged” as it is today, so it’s a whole new ballgame.

For Jordan and Scalise – and whoever else enters the race for Speaker – it’s vital to have a resume of tasty red meat actions for the MAGA base that normal people would find cringeworthy. Here’s a list of six of their not-so-great hits:

Steve Scalise pals around with David Duke

In 2002, Scalise, then a state legislator, gave a speech to a white-rights group founded by former KKK Grand Wizard Dave Duke. It was called the European-American Unity and Rights Organization (EURO).

Apparently, Scalise realized that wasn’t such a great move, but not until 2014, when Democrats found out about it and pounced on Scalise in his role as minority whip. Scalise explained that he was merely talking taxes to racists – as one does – and he proclaimed his distaste for their racism, 12 years after the fact:

“One of the many groups that I spoke to regarding this critical legislation was a group whose views I wholeheartedly condemn,” the Louisiana congressman said in a statement. “It was a mistake I regret, and I emphatically oppose the divisive racial and religious views groups like these hold.”

Scalise would also go on to describe himself to a journalist as “David Duke without the baggage.” Well, of course he did.

Jordan wrestles with allegations that he failed to act upon sexual abuse of his athletes at Ohio State

Jordan, a former college wrestling champion at Ohio State University, served as an assistant wrestling coach at his alma mater from 1986 to 1995. During that period, the team wrestling coach, Dr. David Strauss apparently sexually molested a large number of athletes, wrestlers included. Strauss committed suicide in 2005.

When Strauss’ accusers began coming forth in 2018, they included multiple victims who had wrestled while Jordan was their coach and they attacked him for knowing about Strauss’ behavior but staying silent. Jordan has vehemently denied having known about any of it.

But there was this from NBC News: ”Three former wrestlers told NBC News that it was common knowledge that Strauss showered regularly with the students and inappropriately touched them during appointments, and said it would have been impossible for Jordan to be unaware; one wrestler said he told Jordan directly about the abuse.”

And Mike DiSabato, a former wrestler who was the first to bring forward the allegations, said this: “I considered Jim Jordan a friend,” DiSabato said. “But at the end of the day, he is absolutely lying if he says he doesn’t know what was going on.”

Scalise offends the disabled community

In August 2020, Scalise provided Trump with a little assistance for his reelection with a dirty trick on Twitter. Here’s how it was reported in The Guardian:

“Steve Scalise, from Louisiana and the second-ranking Republican in the House of Representatives, tweeted a doctored video in which Biden appeared to tell progressive activist Ady Barkan he wanted to “defund” the police – a lie Donald Trump and his supporters have used in the presidential campaign.”

But Scalise apparently chose the wrong victim. More from the report:

“The progressive activist Ady Barkan, who has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or motor neuron disease), said a top Republican in Congress owes “the entire disability community an apology” for spreading a digitally altered video of Barkan, who speaks through a computer, interviewing Biden.

“In fact, Biden told Barkan he supports policing reform such as sending social services counselors on some calls, instead of police officers. “And by the way, the idea, though,” Biden told Barkan, “that’s not the same as getting rid of or defunding all the police.”

Jordan gave his ticket to Obama's final SOTU speech to a woman famous for refusing to marry gay people

Jordan decided to rain on President Barack Obama’s parade by giving a ticket to his final State of the Union to a hero of the far right. He chose Kim Davis, the Kentucky clerk who became a lightning rod in 2015 for refusing to grant marriage licenses to gay couples.

As USA Today reported, “Davis grabbed the national spotlight last summer when she refused to comply with the Supreme Court’s ruling legalizing gay marriage. She spent five nights in jail and became a hero to many conservatives, just as (Jim) Obergefell became an icon to gay-rights advocates.”

They, of course, were the combatants in the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized gay marriage nationally. Jordan’s office did offer this comic relief:

“A spokesman for Jordan portrayed the congressman’s decision as a courtesy to someone in need of a ticket — not as a political statement. “Kim Davis used our ticket,” said Jordan spokesman Darin Miller. “Our staff heard from the Family Research Council that Ms. Davis and her family hoped to attend the State of the Union address and so we offered a ticket.”

Scalise caught in a lie about Nancy Pelosi's role on January 6

In June, Scalise and Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) questioned if Speaker Pelosi was involved in delaying National Guard assistance during the January 6 insurrection. But just four months later, video footage became public –during a January 6 Committee hearing – that showed Scalise was in the room with a bipartisan group of lawmakers as Speaker Pelosi spoke on speaker phone with the Department of Defense asking for assistance during the attack.

Here’s how the Washington Post reported that sequence of events:

“Banks picked up the claim on both June 8 and 9 of this year, but merely raised it as a question. ‘Was Speaker Pelosi involved in the decision to delay the National Guard assistance on January 6th?’ he asked suggestively.

“Very shortly after Banks repeated the question at a June 9 news conference, Scalise said, “Jim Banks just raised some very serious questions that should be answered by the January 6th commission.”

But the video played four months later before that very commission proved inconvenient for Scalise, as the Post noted:

“In the video played by the Jan. 6 committee on Thursday, Scalise is seen looking on as Pelosi joins others in pushing for assistance. Pelosi asks that the situation be treated as though the Pentagon or the White House were under siege.”

Anything Scalise can do, Jordan can do better as an election denier

Sure, Scalise was still publicly claiming the 2020 election was stolen from Trump as much as nine months after he knew it wasn’t, but no one on this side of Trump’s numerous indictments can match Jordan’s duplicity on the subject.

He owned his own timeline at the website Just Security. Here's what they documented:

1. Suggested Democrats will try to steal the election (starting Aug. 22, 2020)
2. Suggested and directly alleged the election was stolen (starting Nov. 5, 2020)
3. Endorsed Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell’s call to investigate Dominion and Smartmatic (starting Nov. 15, 2020)
4. Called for immediate congressional investigations of alleged election fraud (starting Nov. 18, 2020)
5. Endorsed state legislators’ picking their own electors (starting Dec. 7, 2020)
6. Said Trump should not concede (starting Dec. 7, 2020)
7. Started public call to object to certification on Jan. 6 (starting Dec. 13, 2020)
8. Supported call for “special counsel” to investigate alleged election fraud (starting Dec. 10, 2020)
9. Called Jan. 6 the “ultimate date of significance” (Dec. 16, 2020)
10. Met with President Trump and small group of House Republicans to coordinate plans to object to certification on January 6 (Dec. 21, 2020)
11. Raised Trump supporters’ expectations by saying he hoped a majority of Congress will object on January 6 (Jan. 5, 2021)
12. Helped lead the effort to vote against certification on January 6 (starting Dec. 13, 2020)
13. Called for Trump supporters to remain peaceful, but does not say to disperse (Jan. 6, 2021 3:02 PM)
14. Made false claims about Speaker Pelosi and security preparations for January 6 (starting Feb. 15, 2021)
15. Revealed for the first time that he spoke with President Trump on Jan. 6 (July 28, 2021)