Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), who spent years as one of Trump’s chief defenders in Congress, received the former president’s backing for his speaker bid days after a group of eight Republicans ousted Kevin McCarthy (R-CA.) But Jordan’s bid for the speakership hit a wall of opposition flamed out over three failed floor votes last week.
And a GOP insider now says the backing of Trump did nothing to influence his chances, according to a report published Monday in the Bozeman Daily-Chronicle.
Jordan faced opposition from lawmakers who were angered by the treatment of McCarthy and of Majority Leader Steve Scalise, (R-LA.), who was the favorite to take the seat before he was attacked by factions of the GOP.
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And over the course of Jordan’s bid, attention sharply turned to Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa and other GOP lawmakers who received death threats after their votes in opposition to Jordan as speaker.
Speaking about Trump's endorsement, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) said, “On the net, it didn’t hurt any more than it helped. And it didn’t help any more than it hurt,”
“The reality is some people had issues that they were not going to get over, which I think had absolutely nothing to do with Jim Jordan himself. It had everything to do with resentment over other issues from January right up until this day,” Rep. Brian Mast, (R-FL) said.
READ MORE: Trump tells allies to 'hammer' GOP speaker hopeful right after talking with him: report
As the GOP effort to find a new speaker continues this Monday, it's unclear how Trump's influence will play out going forward.
Read the full article over at the Bozeman Daily-Chronicle.
