Fact Checking Jim Jordan’s Claim That He Never Said ‘The Election Was Stolen’
Rep. Jim Jordan claimed during a House Rules Committee meeting on Tuesday that he had “never said this election was stolen.” He said that he had merely expressed concerns and requested an investigation. (The moment can be seen on CSPAN’s stream of the meeting at the 1:10:16 mark.)
Jordan’s past comments on the matter refute his claim. On January 6, Jordan voted to reject the electoral votes of both Arizona and Pennsylvania—an act itself that would indicate skepticism about the integrity of the election In a speech explaining his opposition to Arizona’s electoral votes he stated: “During the campaign, Vice President Biden would do an event and get 50 people at the event. President Trump at just one rally gets 50,000 people. President Trump increased his vote with African-Americans, increased his vote with Hispanic, won 19 of 20 bellwether counties, won Ohio by eight, Iowa by eight, and Florida by three, got 11 million votes more than he did in 2016 and House Republicans won 27 of 27 tossup races. But somehow the guy who never left his house wins the election?”
Jordan went on to say: “They changed the rules. They changed the election law and they did it in an unconstitutional fashion.”
In October, Jordan explicitly called the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision to allow the counting of ballots postmarked on or before but received up to three days after Election Day an attempt “to steal the election.” (Whatever Jordan’s objections to counting those votes, they didn’t affect the outcome of the election: Pennsylvania did not include those ballots in its certified results, and Joe Biden won anyway.)
Jordan also participated in a Stop the Steal rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, shortly after the election, and during an interview with Fox Across America on December 9 said: “I don’t know how you can ever convince me that President Trump didn’t actually win this thing based on all the things you see, the 11 million more votes.”
During an interview with CNN on December 7, Jordan was asked whether Trump should concede the election. His response? “No. No way, no way, no way.” He again referenced irregularities, citing “all kinds of crazy things happening in Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, all these in Nevada.”
There is no record of Jordan using the words “the election was stolen” verbatim. But Jordan has repeatedly suggested—falsely—that Trump won more votes than Joe Biden and should be president on January 21, 2021.
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