Bacon’s wife receives anonymous texts, calls about his Speaker vote

Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) confirmed Wednesday that his wife received anonymous texts and calls in the days leading up to the Speaker vote that urged her to tell Bacon to vote for Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) — who he continues to oppose.

CNN’s Jake Tapper asked Bacon about the text messages and calls that Politico first reported Tuesday. Tapper noted that the threatening messages “did not have the desired effect” on Bacon’s vote.

“If they think a pressure campaign or bullying campaign is going to work for me, it’s not,” Bacon said, adding that they were “threatening” his wife with anonymous texts and phone messages.

“They were calling my wife anonymously as well. She’s recorded some of them, and so it’s wrong. Some folks are so mad they don’t mind what boundaries they cross, but it’s not right. We can like each other and still disagree,” Bacon said.

Screenshots of the reported text messages to Bacon’s wife read, “Why is your husband causing chaos by not supporting Jim Jordan? I thought he was a team player” and “Your husband will not hold any political office ever again. What a disappointment and failure he is.”

Bacon voted for former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in the second ballot election held Wednesday. He joined 21 other Republicans in opposing the GOP conference’s nominee.

Some of Jordan’s allies reportedly attempted to run a pressure campaign to round up support for the Ohio Republican over the weekend, but multiple Republicans have suggested that Jordan may have lost votes because of those methods.

Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) said Tuesday that the GOP pressure campaign to elect Jordan as Speaker backfired after the Ohio Republican failed to clinch the necessary votes on the first ballot. Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that the online pressure campaign is the “dumbest way” to support Jordan for Speaker.