AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
- Adam Kinzinger said some Republicans were "too scared" to propose alternatives to Jim Jordan.
- In a recent talk with PBS' Geoff Bennett, Kinzinger remarked on the "cowardice" of some GOP members.
- House Republicans voted 112-86 to remove Jordan as their party's speaker nominee in a secret ballot.
Former GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger on Friday called out some of his former colleagues for their support of Rep. Jim Jordan's failed speakership bid, arguing that many of them only backed the Ohioan because they were "too scared" to put forth other candidates.
Kinzinger, who was in conversation with PBS NewsHour co-anchor Geoff Bennett in conjunction with Politics and Prose bookstore, said that it was "cowardice" for some members to have backed Jordan on the House floor before voting against him in Friday's secret ballot.
In three separate floor votes to install Jordan as speaker last week, he received 200, 199, and 194 votes, respectively, well short of the 217 votes needed to win. After the third loss, the House Republican conference voted 112-86 to remove Jordan as their party's speaker nominee.
"What it shows is nobody liked Jim Jordan but there were a ton of people who were too scared to say any other name," Kinzinger said.
"I was listening to the roll call vote and I heard so many names come up that I knew because I've talked to them," he continued. "They couldn't stand Jim and they enthusiastically say 'Jim Jordan' because they'll let the other 20 or 25 people take the death threats and take down Jim Jordan because they don't have the courage to do it."
A number of Republican lawmakers received death threats over their opposition to Jordan's speakership bid, which further heightened tensions in the aftermath of Rep. Kevin McCarthy's removal as speaker earlier this month.
During the discussion, Kinzinger also remarked that House Republicans would be in "survival mode" after they eventually select a new speaker, with the ex-lawmaker noting that the conference would likely have a tough time enacting much of the party's priorities.
"We'll be lucky as a country to get Israel and Ukraine aid on the floor and done," he said.
Kinzinger's forthcoming book, "Renegade," is set to be released on October 31.