Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, told Newsmax on Friday he is uniquely positioned to become the next House speaker and unite a Republican conference fractured by the ouster of Kevin McCarthy earlier this week.
Jordan, chair of the Judiciary Committee, and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., are among the candidates to replace McCarthy, R-Calif., who was ousted Tuesday following nine months on the job after a motion to vacate vote sparked by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., and seven other Republicans.
"This job at this moment is really about two fundamental questions," Jordan told "The Record With Greta Van Susteren." "Who can unite the Republican conference, who can bring the team together? And then, who can go tell the American people what we're doing and why it matters to them? How it impacts them, their family, their community, their small businesses; that is what the role is.
"I like the job I have. I didn't plan on running for speaker. But I think I'm the one individual uniquely positioned within the conference to bring the team together and go tell the American people why we're doing important work for them."
The House is adjourned until Tuesday, when it is expected to accept nominations for speaker, with a vote likely Wednesday.
Jordan said he doesn't see a problem with bringing Gaetz and the other seven rebellious Republicans back into the fold because the issue of removing McCarthy has been resolved.
"I think we're in a whole different world than we were just three days ago," Jordan said. "What happened three days ago has never happened in American history. We have to realize, Oh, wait a minute, things have changed ,and if we don't come together, then where the Democrats want to take the country, particularly the left, which I think now controls that party, is not where I want to go, not where our constituents want to go. I don't think it's where the American people ultimately want to go.
"So, we better come together and figure out how we can all, from the eight who voted in a way that I disagreed with, but I respect those individuals, but I think they were dead wrong in what they did to everyone else who voted the other way and the whole cross section of the conference. I think we have to come together, or you get complete chaos."
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Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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