Decryption | No to MAGA bullying

(New York) A Colorado representative received four death threats and an eviction notice from the owner of his constituency office, the result of his refusal to support the candidacy of ultraconservative agitator Jim Jordan for president of the House of Representatives.

A Georgia representative asked his county sheriff to deploy police officers to his daughter’s school and his own residence after receiving threats over his vote for Jordan.

A co-worker from Nebraska revealed his wife now sleeps with a loaded gun after receiving increasingly threatening anonymous calls and texts.

CNN reporter Jake Tapper played a recording of a call from an anonymous man to the wife of an unnamed representative.

“Why is your husband such a pig?” Why is he going on TV to pretend to be an asshole? Because he’s a deep state asshole? So, here’s what we’re going to do. We will follow you everywhere. We’re going to stick you in the ass. Nonstop. It’s Jim Jordan or someone more conservative, or you’re going to be attacked like you can’t imagine. And once again, without violence. »

This is not an exhaustive list of threats received by the twenty Republican representatives who created a surprise last week by refusing to give in to the intimidation of members of the MAGA movement, who dreamed of seeing one of the their at the head of one of the two houses of the American Congress.

Climate of fear

The question today is whether this revolt of “moderates” or “centrists” will have consequences within the Republican group of the House, which will have to choose a new candidate for the post of “speaker” on Tuesday. Clarification: in addition to being second in the order of presidential succession, the “speaker” is the one who dictates the legislative agenda of the House and directs negotiations with the Senate and the White House on major issues. The function is far from ceremonial or symbolic.

Another clarification: Jim Jordan condemned the threats and intimidation to which his Republican colleagues were subjected last week. But he cannot deny his membership in this movement whose acronym corresponds to the slogan of Donald Trump’s first presidential campaign (Make America Great Again).

In terms of threats and intimidation, the former president set the tone and his followers followed suit. Former Michigan Republican Rep. Peter Meijer recounted one of his colleagues’ paralyzing fear after the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol. The latter told him that he had decided to vote against the certification of the results of the 2020 presidential election for one and only reason: to protect his family.

During an interview with the magazine The Atlantic, Meijer summed up his colleague’s thoughts: “If they are ready to attack us inside the Capitol, what will they do when we are at home with our children? »

Utah Republican Sen. Mitt Romney expressed this same fear recently when explaining his decision to spend $5,000 a day to protect his family after his second vote to impeach Trump.

This climate of fear and intimidation is not organic. It is powered by influential MAGA personalities who speak on social networks or in traditional media. Steve Bannon, former advisor to Donald Trump, is part of this ecosystem. His message to the many listeners of War Roomhis podcast show, was clear Wednesday morning: target Republican representatives who refuse to vote for Jim Jordan.

“Call them and let them know what you think,” Bannon said. Send them emails, call their office, all that, burn the house down. That’s it. Take it out on them. »

Secret vote

Despite threats and intimidation, the number of representatives opposed to the election of Jim Jordan as Speaker of the House increased from 20 to 25 from the first to the third round of voting. But opposition to Jordan was even greater, taking into account the outcome of the subsequent secret ballot held by Republicans to determine whether their Ohio colleague should drop out of the race.

No fewer than 112 representatives responded in the affirmative, compared to 86. How many of them had voted for Donald Trump’s preferred candidate out of fear during the plenary voting rounds?

The words “moderate” or “centrist” poorly define the representatives who openly opposed the promotion of Jim Jordan. Some of them are very conservative elected officials, but who stand out from their MAGA colleagues by their respect for the rules, institutions and their responsibilities as parliamentarians.

This attitude also explains why they have been crushed in the past by their most extremist colleagues, who are however fewer in number than them. It could once again encourage them to fall into line to put an end to this unprecedented paralysis of the House which occurs at a time when Joe Biden is calling on Congress to approve a budgetary envelope of 105 billion dollars to attack four major issues: Ukraine, Israel, China and the southern border.

But this attitude could also push these Republicans to adopt a solution that would be the biggest snub to the Trumpists: an agreement with the Democrats to elect a responsible and credible Speaker of the House.

They would obviously have to say no again to threats and intimidation.