Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), the chair of the powerful House Judiciary Committee, refused to call for Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) to resign, but made clear during a CNN interview on Tuesday that he is happy if Gonzales’s primary opponent wins.
Jordan was asked about Gonzales by Manu Raju, noting the Texas Republican is under fire over an alleged affair with a former staffer who later killed herself by self-immolation. Gonzales, a married father of six, was revealed to have pressed his former aide to send him “sexy” photos in recently revealed text messages that also showed the staffer trying to rebuff his advances.
Raju began, “There’s another controversy — there’s always controversies in the Capitol — one involving your fellow Republican Congressman Tony Gonzalez. There are some really serious accusations right now that he had an affair, allegedly with a former staffer. She later killed herself, and now there are text messages that have been revealed that suggest he was acting very improper. Now, he has denied some of this, but he’s also not really addressed it as well. Some of your fellow Republicans want him to resign over this. Should he resign?”
Jordan replied, “Should he resign? I leave that up to the voters in San Antonio and South Texas and Mr. Gonzalez’s district. That’s a call for the voters. I’ve always sort of taken that position. In the end, it’s ‘we the people’ who decide who represents us. There’s an election in seven days.”
“Are you supporting him for reelection?” Raju pushed.
Jordan replied, “We were, but there’s also the guy who — now some of our colleagues are supporting — Mr. Herrera. If Mr. Herrera wins, that’s fine. Are you going to support Herrera instead of the voters? No. I mean, look, we’re for the voters deciding.
“So you’re neutral?” Raju asked.
“Well, no. I’ve done events for Tony in the past, certainly to help maintain our majority. And if Tony wins, again, that is a call for the voters. Next week we’re going to know — in seven days,” Jordan concluded.
Watch above via CNN.
The post ‘We Were’: Jim Jordan Pressed Hard On CNN If He’s Still Supporting Tony Gonzales first appeared on Mediaite.