Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) said Wednesday that it was “ridiculous” to think he wouldn’t have stood up for student wrestlers at Ohio State University if he truly knew a school doctor was sexually abusing them, as some former wrestlers have claimed.
“I’m telling the truth,” Jordan told reporters. “Look, I stood up to the speaker of the house from my home state, I stood up to the IRS and I’ve stood up to the FBI. To think that I would not stand up for my athletes is ridiculous.”
"I’m telling the truth … To think that I would not stand up for my athletes is ridiculous," Rep. Jordan says Wednesday in response to allegations that he knew of sexual abuse by Ohio State team doctor. https://t.co/raTPxm2WHf pic.twitter.com/yoGoFCcinI
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) July 11, 2018
After news first broke last week that former OSU wrestlers had accused Jordan of knowingly ignoring the late Dr. Richard Strauss sexual’s abuse when Jordan was an assistant wrestling coach at the school, the rightwing Ohio congressman has continued to deny knowledge of what the wrestlers say was systematic and widely known behavior.
More and more former wrestlers have since claimed Jordan knew what was going on. The congressman in turn hired a conservative PR firm as former coaches and fellow Republican congressman have come to his defense.