Jim Jordan’s 'pathetic' House speaker run fires up critics: 'Utter bonkers chaos'

On Wednesday morning, October 4 — the day after Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-California) was ousted as House speaker — far-right Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) officially announced his plan to seek the position. Other House Republicans being mentioned as possible McCarthy successors include Rep. Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minnesota).

MSNBC's Ali Vitaly, reporting on Jordan's announcement, stressed that he won't be the only Republican seeking the speaker position and noted that Scalise, according to sources, has been "making calls."

"In theory," Vitaly told her colleague Jose Diaz-Balart, "we'll start seeing the field take shape by early next week. And look, the reason I say in theory, Jose, is because the technical word for what we've seen the last few days from the House is utter bonkers chaos…. I don't expect this to be a seamless process."

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Users of X, formerly Twitter, were quick to respond to Jordan's announcement. Far-right conspiracy theorist Lou Dobbs, formerly of Fox Business, was delighted by Jordan's announcement and praised him as a "widely-respected and talented legislator and leader who would make the ideal Speaker of the House."

But other X users didn't share Dobbs' enthusiasm.

Ohio Democrat Tamie Wilson, who is seeking her party's nomination to run against Jordan in 2024, tweeted, "Does this terrify anyone else? The time to take him down is NOW!"

Jeff Sites, another Ohio Democrat running in Jordan's district, tweeted, "Jim Jordan opens the door to running for SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE. Over and over, he's ruled it out — Once again, Jim Jordan LIES! Ohio and America can't afford more fabrication and obstruction. I've had enough — That's why I’m running to UNSEAT Jim Jordan in 2024!"

READ MORE: Historic first: McCarthy ousted as Speaker as GOP vows vengeance against Matt Gaetz

Democratic writer and activist Victor Shi predicted that if House Republicans nominate Jordan, the far-right congressman can forget about getting any Democratic support.

Shi tweeted, "So, Jim Jordan just announced he WILL run to become the next Speaker of the House. Reminder: This is the same person who STILL hasn't answered a Congressional subpoena for his role on January 6th. There's no way any Democrat will vote for him to be Speaker. They're all pathetic."

Democrat Ken Collins said of Jordan, "He should be ashamed of even entering his tainted name into the mix (mess)."

Never Trump conservative Olivia Troye tweeted, "Let's be honest. It was always going to end up with the far right pushing Trump or Jim Jordan as the next Speaker of the House. This decision was made by many across the GOP when they compromised their integrity in the aftermath of Jan 6, 2021. We're still living the ongoing nightmare."

READ MORE: Conservative WSJ editorial board: McCarthy ouster shows GOP’s 'degraded state' in an 'era of rage'