Scott J. Applewhite/AP
- A group of former Ohio State University wrestlers said Jim Jordan shouldn't be the next speaker.
- The wrestlers have accused Jordan of ignoring reports of sexual abuse by a team doctor.
- Jordan and his office have repeatedly denied the allegations.
A group of ex-Ohio State University wrestlers who have alleged that Rep. Jim Jordan ignored a pattern of sexual assault on student-athletes from a university-affiliated doctor said in a recent interview that they don't believe Jordan's fit to lead the House of Representatives.
Former collegiate wrestlers Mike Schyck, Dunyasha Yetts, and Rocky Ratliff spoke with NBC News to reiterate their allegations against the high-ranking representative from Ohio and explain why he's not the best candidate to be speaker of the House.
Each of the wrestlers competed for Ohio State University at the same time that school doctor Richard Strauss worked with the program and have alleged that Strauss sexually abused them. In a prior report, they also accused Jordan of ignoring Strauss' serial pattern of sexual assault.
Yetts, who has said that he and several teammates personally told Jordan on repeated occasions about Strauss' sexual abuse, now says that Jordan "doesn't deserve to be House speaker."
"He still has to answer for what happened to us," Yetts said.
In response to Jordan's speakership bid, Schyck asked if Republicans "really want a guy in that job who chose not to stand up for his guys."
Jordan has repeatedly denied that he had any knowledge of the sexual abuse against Ohio State wrestlers until the wrestlers themselves began speaking out about it in the media. His congressional spokesman, Russel Dye, reiterated Jordan's lack of knowledge about the events to NBC News, saying that "Chairman Jordan never saw or heard of any abuse, and if he had, he would have dealt with it."
The allegations don't appear to be a major factor in the ongoing speaker race.
GOP Rep. Nancy Mace, who was one of eight Republicans in the House who voted to oust McCarthy as speaker, said over the weekend she "doesn't know anything" about the allegations against Jordan, but that she wants him to lead the House next.