Things are getting out of hand in the House. There are reports that some supporters who want to see Jim Jordan become the next speaker are so aggressively looking for the votes to make it happen that there are texts going out that are unduly ugly and threatening. Wednesday night the news broke that Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, a Republican from Iowa, received death threats.

Miller-Meeks is in her second term in the House. She backed Jordan Tuesday. By Wednesday she switched her support to House Appropriations Chairman Kay Granger (R-TX). Granger isn’t running for speaker but she has led opposition to Jordan. She supports Steve Scalise, the House Majority Leader, for speaker.

She posted her reasons for no longer supporting Jordan on X. Jordan’s backers, she said, including members of the House, increased “threatening tactics” after Tuesday’s vote when Jordan fell short of gathering enough votes on the floor. She was given assurances that the threats would stop but they did not. The threats took a dark turn after the vote on Wednesday.

Miller-Meeks made a report to the authorities after receiving “credible death threats” and “a barrage of threatening calls.” She said she does not cave to bullies. Republicans need a consensus candidate, she said.

The Office of Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks has released the following statement:https://t.co/7l2EkLagx4 pic.twitter.com/R8mUPQ6RRW

— Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, M.D. (@RepMMM) October 18, 2023

Her full statement is compelling. She originally voted for Jordan for the greater good of the Republican Party in the House, she explained.

One thing I cannot stomach, or support is a bully.

Someone who threatens another with bodily harm or tries to suppress differing opinions undermines opportunity for unity and regard for freedom of speech. That’s why I spoke out forcefully against censorship and suppression during the COVID-19 pandemic. 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.

I understand that voting against Rep Jordan is not popular at this time. I respected Jim enough to vote for him, knowing he did not have the votes to be elected. We have had numerous calls to all our offices, and many have urged that I support Jim Jordan and many others urged me to look for a conservative consensus candidate.

Angry phone calls are one thing. Escalating to death threats is something else. That kind of behavior can’t be accepted.

Jim Jordan lost support during the last vote in the House and many credit that to the aggressive tactics being used by Jordan surrogates. They are not changing minds and votes, they are causing more House members to decide to vote against Jordan. A spokesman for Jordan said Jordan opposes bullying tactics or threats against other Republicans.

“This is abhorrent and has no place in civil discourse. No one should receive threats and it needs to stop,” said the spokesman, Russell Dye. “We have condemned these actions repeatedly. It is important that Republicans stop attacking each other and come together.”

Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) said that his wife received aggressive anonymous texts after the first vote was taken. Bacon was one of 20 Republicans who did not vote for Jordan during the first vote on Tuesday. He has been consistent all along that he does not support Jordan as speaker. The texts coming in on his wife’s phone were from unknown numbers. The texts asked why he wasn’t being a team player and urged her to talk to him.

“Talk to your husband tell him to step up be a leader and help the Republican Party get a speaker there’s too much going on in the world for all this going on in Republican Party you guys take five steps forward and then turn around and take 20 steps backwards no wonder our party always ends up getting screwed over,” read one such message posted to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

According to an additional message, she was asked, “Why is your husband causing chaos by not supporting Jim Jordan? I thought he was a team player.”

When Bacon’s wife asked the unknown sender for his or her name, the sender did not provide it. Instead, he or she said, “Your husband will not hold any political office ever again. What a disappoint and failure he is.”

In response to the text going to Mrs. Bacon, a Jordan spokesman said, “These threats are wrong and should stop.”

Jordan vows to continue his run for speaker. This is no way to go about it though. Leave the spouses of members out of this battle. These tactics are losing ground for Jordan. Jordan is not a unifier and in this first test, he is failing to bring together enough support to get the job done.