Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) promised House Republicans a fight in a closed-door pitch to lead them, ending his remarks by invoking Waffle House and Buc-ee’s as members were pressured not to leak details of the meeting.
Jordan, the House Judiciary Committee chairman, made his case Tuesday morning at a candidate forum ahead of the afternoon vote for minority leader, where he faces Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA).
Jordan was “pure ‘fight’” inside the closed-door forum, Politico’s Meredith Lee Hill wrote on X.
“It’s a message even some Scalise allies are privately acknowledging seems to be swaying many after the midterms bloodbath, per people in the room,” Hill wrote.
Rep. Mike Rulli (R-OH), a Jordan supporter, stood up and demanded to know what leadership would do with its remaining time in the majority, drawing cheers, multiple sources told Fox News Digital’s Liz Elkind.
“Jordan just used his closing to talk about Buc-ee’s and Waffle House and ranch dressing,” a source in the room told Capitol Hill reporter Juliegrace Brufke. Scalise “[t]alked about the World Cup and how foreigners saw America as great,” the source said.
Foreign fans in the U.S. for the World Cup went viral this summer with posts about Buc-ee’s, Waffle House and ranch, NBC News reported.
Republicans also used part of the closed meeting to complain about leaks.
Punchbowl News founder Jake Sherman wrote on X that "[s]ome Republicans are bellyaching about leaks."
“I’m honestly not gonna comment on anything that happened in there,” Rep. James Comer (R-KY), the House Oversight Committee chairman, said as he left the meeting, citing pressure not to leak to the press.
“One of the things they were talking about is leaking about what was said in there, so I’m gonna withhold any comments,” Comer added.
After last week’s defeat, Scalise has talked about winning voters back, while Jordan, like President Donald Trump, has squared up for a fight with Democrats.
The vote comes a week after voters gave Democrats the largest House majority any party has won in more than 30 years and delivered “a firm rebuke” of Trump’s leadership, Politico reported.
“This is the start of our move to get this country back on track. We’re gonna have a lot of internal conversations about... how we can go win back middle America,” Scalise said ahead of the vote.
“I am battle-tested on the oversight front and I know the Democrats’ playbook,” Jordan argued instead, according to The Associated Press.
Trump named Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller as White House chief of staff on Friday, three days after the election.
“I just think we ruined a lot of our goodwill with Latino voters,” Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-IN) told Fox News Digital, blaming Miller’s immigration positions.
In Texas, state Rep. James Talarico (D-TX) defeated state Attorney General Ken Paxton (R-TX) for a U.S. Senate seat, the first Democratic Senate win there since 1988.
Republicans’ losses in Texas were “driven in part by the defection of Latino voters” over Trump’s deportation strategy, which Miller built, CNN reported.
On election night, as races were called for Democrats, Trump posted a picture on Truth Social of a red hat reading “Veto.” The next day, he toured his White House ballroom construction site, which he called “the safest place in Washington.”
Tuesday’s winner needs about 82 votes, a simple majority of the Republicans who will serve in the next Congress, Punchbowl News reported.
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