Last updated on September 25th, 2023 at 02:31 pm
Donald Trump brought Rep. Jim Jordan on stage during his Ohio rally on Saturday, bear hugging him and ignoring the sex abuse scandal currently swirling over the GOP congressman.
In fact, not only did Trump ignore Jordan’s disturbing past as an Ohio State University assistant wrestling coach, but the tone-deaf president bragged about Jordan’s wrestling skills.
“There’s a brave, tough cookie,” Trump said. “I don’t want to wrestle him. He’s tough.”
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Video:
Jim Jordan. who faces accusations of turning blind eye to sexual assault of wrestlers at Ohio State, called courageous and “brave” by President Trump pic.twitter.com/mdrp6dnPxG
— gifdsports (@gifdsports) August 4, 2018
Trump’s embrace of Jordan and his awkward line about his wrestling skills comes at a time when the Ohio Republican is mired in a sex abuse scandal.
According to former OSU wrestlers, Jordan knew that team doctor Richard Strauss was sexually abusing athletes. Instead of taking appropriate action, Jordan – then the assistant wrestling coach – ignored it.
To make matters worse, Jordan has been putting pressure on the former wrestlers and ex-head coach to reverse the allegations against him as he seeks to become the next Speaker of the House.
The former OSU athletes haven’t budged, claiming there was no way Jordan didn’t know about the doctor’s misconduct.
Trump and Jordan are two peas in a pod
Of course, it’s no surprise that Donald Trump would embrace a man like Jim Jordan – and not just because the GOP congressman has been one of his staunchest defenders in Congress.
After all, Trump has his own history of sexual abuse allegations. He even admitted to such conduct in the infamous Access Hollywood tape released during the 2016 campaign.
To a known womanizer like Donald Trump, there is likely nobody he would respect than Jim Jordan, a man who looks the other way.
Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.