‘The left is crazy and controls the Democratic Party,’ Rep. Jordan says

The left is crazy and controls the Democratic Party, but not all Democrats are that way, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, told The Lion’s Chris Stigall ahead of the State of the Union speech Tuesday.

Jordan, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, said he expected President Donald Trump to use the address to “remind the country how crazy the left is.”

Indeed, the president at one point challenged Democrats to stand if they prioritized Americans’ safety over helping immigrants in the country illegally. When they refused, Trump called them “crazy,” a phrase he used multiple times during his nearly two-hour address to describe leftist policies.

Jordan said the far left “has all the energy in the party,” even pitting “radical left” challengers against more moderate Democrats in primaries. He cited Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, as an example. Crockett is seeking her party’s nomination for the U.S. Senate.

“That’s kind of the identity issue for the Democrats right now, whether they’re going to go, as you say, sort of a Beto (O’Rourke) left or a Jasmine Crockett left, and there is still a difference, maybe not much, but at least in presentation,” he said.

“It seems to me the hard left’s winning some of their policies,” he continued. “I mean, think about the Democrat Party now. Their policy is to be anti-Israel, which makes no sense, which is, I think, frightening, which is scary.

“Israel’s our best friend. It’s like, what are you talking about? So we’ll see how it shakes out. But I still get along with Democrats. I try to be cordial and talk with them. We go at it in committee. We go at it on the House floor.”

Illegal immigration, fraud, voter ID

Jordan also addressed combating illegal immigration nationally and fraud uncovered in Minnesota, which his House committee is investigating. The committee is also working on legislation to penalize sanctuary cities and states that do not cooperate with federal immigration officials.

“This crazy sanctuary jurisdiction issue that’s out there, where left-wing political leaders tell their local law enforcement not to work with federal law, is literally one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard,” he told Stigall. Jordan said he hopes Congress passes the bill this session, as well as the SAVE Act, which would require proof of citizenship and photo identification to vote.

He called the Minnesota fraud case an “old-fashioned” scheme in which people were “just stuffing the money in their pockets.”

“It looks like the political leaders and the elected leaders in Minnesota were not only just kind of letting it happen, they were almost assisting in it for political reasons,” he said, noting that many of those implicated are from the sizeable Somali community. “This is pretty big, and we’re looking into this one as well.”

Jordan expressed confidence in Attorney General Pam Bondi, who will decide whether to charge former CIA Director John Brennan, whom the Judiciary Committee alleges lied under oath while testifying before Congress.

“We know John Brennan lied to us under oath last Congress, when we were deposing him,” he said, citing a now declassified report that contradicts his sworn testimony. “In the end, it’s the Justice Department’s call.”

Anticipating the midterms

Looking ahead to the midterm elections, Jordan said Trump’s “totally changed politics in the last decade,” and that the president will “campaign like he’s at the top of the ticket.”

“I think it’s critical to remind the voters, as I said before, every position the left takes is crazy,” he added.

“Crazy to defund the police. Crazy to say you want to abolish ICE. Crazy to have a border like we had under Biden. Crazy to say men should compete against women in sports. You can just name it. Crazy sanctuary city policy to not work with federal law.

“You just go down the list and remind voters, if you put Democrats back in charge, those are the policies they are going to be pushing.”