President Joe Biden Mocks His Critic Jim Jordan’s Failed House Speaker Bids: “I Ache for Him”

President Joe Biden displayed his sardonic wit over his frequent critic Jim Jordan's failed attempts to win the House Speaker bid. Recently, during his flight to the United States from his trip to Tel Aviv, a reporter questioned him about Jordan's predicament, and the 80-year-old answered with a sardonic smile.

The Ohio House Speaker nominee fell short of votes a second time on Wednesday, October 18, 2023, where 22 Republicans voted against Jordan, reported The Independent. This is in comparison to his previous bid, where 20 people from the party defected, leading to his failure two times in a row. 

President Biden took questions from the reporters during his flight back home after meeting Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel. A journalist asked him, "Do you have a view of Jim Jordan's current predicament [of] being unable to secure the speakership?" The Democrat was armed with wits.

"I ache for him," Biden mocked, which prompted the reporters to laugh at his remark but quickly added, "No. Zero. None." A third round of voting for speakership is scheduled on Thursday, October 19, 2023. The Ohio candidate has been a longtime critic of Biden and his administration. 

Jordan is also a Trump ally. When Kevin McCarthy was ousted from his role by his party members, the 59-year-old became next in line seeking the chair of the House Speaker. However, the hard-right Republican nominee couldn't earn the support of his people to win the bid a second time, unfortunately. 

Although some Republicans did favor him for the role, Jordan, specifically, lost on the support of representatives like Vern Buchanan of Florida, Drew Ferguson of Georgia, Marianette Miller-Meeks of Iowa, and Pete Stauber of Minnesota, mustering only 199 votes.

The 212 Democrats, on the other hand, showed a united front for Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries in both votes. The chairman of the House Rules Committee, Rep Tom Cole, cited Jordan's "personal integrity" to mobilize support for the Ohio representative for the role of the House Speaker. 

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries was nominated Rep Pete Aguilar, the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. Aguilar said, "The country cannot afford more delays and more chaos," adding, "Fifteen days should be enough." After McCarthy, Jordan was the second Republican choice after House Majority Leader Steve Scalise extracted his name from the nomination race. 

Scalise, like Jordan, couldn't garner the required votes to win. Despite his constant attempts, the American politician lost the speaker bid on Thursday's voting. Yet, he's determined to push for another vote on Friday, October 20. Representative John Rutherford of Florida said, "He needed to know there is no way forward for his speakership." 

After a closed-door meeting between the Republicans, Jordan's supporters pushed him to keep fighting, "We made the pitch to members on the resolution as the way to lower the temperature and get back to work," he said.

"We decided that wasn't where we were going to go. I'm still running for speaker, reported The New York Times. "I plan to go to the floor and get the votes and win this race."