US Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks on Wednesday said she has received “credible death threats,” after voting against US Representative Jim Jordan for speaker of the US House of Representatives.
Jordan was formally nominated by a majority of his party last week, but has been unsuccessful in getting the necessary 217 Republicans to back him in two House votes so far, with more lawmakers from his own party opposing him on Wednesday than in the first vote on Tuesday.
A third vote was expected to take place yesterday.
Photo: AFP
Miller-Meeks, a Republican who represents a district in Iowa, voted for Jordan the first time, but switched to vote for US Representative Kay Granger, chair of the House Appropriations Committee, on Wednesday.
Since then, she has received “a barrage of threatening calls” in addition to multiple death threats, Miller-Meeks said in a statement.
The authorities have been notified and her office is fully cooperating, she said.
“One thing I cannot stomach, or support, is a bully,” she said. “I did not stand for bullies before I voted for Chairwoman Granger and when I voted for speaker-designee Jordan, and I will not bend to bullies now.”
It was not immediately clear who made the threats.
“We condemn all threats against our colleagues and it is imperative that we come together,” Jordan wrote on X. “Stop. It’s abhorrent.”
Lawmakers who are withholding their support have said Jordan himself has been courteous and kind in conversations attempting to win them over.
However, many have accused his supporters of bullying.
“The last thing you want to do is try to intimidate or pressure me, because then I close out entirely,” US Representative Mario Diaz-Balart, a Republican who has refused to support Jordan, told reporters earlier this week.
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