(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Congresswoman Ashley Hinson, a Republican from Marion, says she isn’t giving up on Jim Jordan for House Speaker, who has failed to get enough votes to take over. “I am going to continue to support Jim today. I really am focused on solutions here. I like him I think he will do a good job,” she says, “but if he doesn’t get to 217 votes we really do need to figure out the next steps.” The 217 votes are what is needed in the House to win the Speaker’s post. Hinson says they had a meeting yesterday to discuss the option of giving the interim House Speaker the power to conduct business.

“The consensus out of that meeting was really you just need to focus on trying to get to 217 first so that we can move our agenda forward,” Hinson says. Hinson says the option for the interim speaker is not on the table today and she hopes they can come together and elect a speaker. Hinson also spoke out against the threats made against fellow Iowa Congresswoman Marinette Miller-Meeks after Miller-Meeks changed her vote and did not support Jim Jordon for speaker. “I don’t care what party you’re in or how you vote, violence and threats are unacceptable and I’m disturbed that our politics have reached this much of a low. This should be disavowed by everyone,” Hinson says. She also slammed the members of the House who showed up at a rally for Hamas.

“Members of the squad attended and encouraged this disgusting display of anti-Semitism and apologized for terrorism. Several members of the squad have been spreading Hamas propaganda and disinformation,” She says. “They’re taking the terrorists at their word rather than focusing on what our closest allies say. It’s disgusting. It’s shameful and it’s unacceptable.”

The Squad is an informal group of eight Democratic Representatives, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota.