House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said Friday that he believes his opponents among the House's GOP can still be converted to supporters ahead of what will likely be another losing vote for his speaker bid.
“Look, there’s been multiple rounds of votes for speaker before. We all know that. I just know that we need to get a speaker as soon as possible so we can get to work for the American people,” Jordan told reporters at a Friday morning press conference, referencing former Speaker Kevin McCarthy's, R-Calif., 15-vote series to secure the speaker's gavel in January. “We stayed the same. We picked up a few, we lost a few. I think the ones we lost can come back,” Jordan added.
Later in the press conference, Jordan was asked whether the 2020 election was stolen from former President Donald Trump. "Yeah, there were all kinds of problems with the 2020 election," Jordan said.
House Republicans, who have repeatedly failed to unite behind Jordan, don't appear to have been moved by the press conference.
In fact, both supporters and opponents of the Ohio Republican were "completely befuddled" by it, Punchbowl News' Jake Sherman reports, adding that he received a number of "what-is-he-doing-calls" after the event.
House Republicans — Jordan supporters and opponents — are completely befuddled by that press conference. I’ve gotten a number of what-is-he-doing calls in the last 20 minutes.
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) October 20, 2023
"Fox & Friends'" Lawrence Jones told his co-hosts after it concluded he wasn't "sure what the purpose of the press conference was."
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During the Friday edition of "CNN This Morning" host Poppy Harlow asked, according to RawStory, "What was the goal there? Did he say anything different than he has been saying?"
Shortly after, panelist and former GOP congressman Charlie Dent asserted that Jordan's morning effort to garner support fell flat as many of those Republicans voting against him are "immovable objects" on the matter.
Asked whether he was able to sway any holdouts at a caucus meeting on Thursday, Jordan claimed that he had good conversations with the group. But sources told Politico's Olivia Beavers that the meeting was "brutal" and holdouts urged Jordan to drop out and "do the right thing and that they won't be backing down."
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A source similarly told Sherman that it was a "direct, precise meeting in which Jordan was told he will never be speaker. This group doesn't want anything. They want Jordan to understand he will not be speaker."
A source describes the Jordan meeting with the holdouts like this: A direct, precise meeting in which JORDAN was told he will never be speaker. This group doesn't want anything. They want Jordan to understand he will not be speaker.
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) October 20, 2023
