Jim Jordan Mocked as Trump's 'Mar-a-Lago Mutt' in Cartoon by Ohio's Largest Newspaper

Ohio's largest newspaper, The Plain Dealer, mocked Representative Jim Jordan in an opinion cartoon this week, describing the Republican congressman as "Trump's national champion" dog and "Mar-a-Lago mutt."

Jordan, who has represented Ohio's 4th congressional district since 2007, is a staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump. He has rejected cooperating with the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack, which sought more information about his communication with Trump on the day of and prior to the U.S. Capitol assault carried out by the former president's supporters.

The Plain Dealer, a Cleveland-based newspaper and the largest in the state by circulation, published a Wednesday opinion cartoon taking aim at Jordan and his loyalty to the former president. The newspaper makes its content available online at Cleveland.com.

The image featured what is apparently Trump's hand holding the end of a red tie functioning as a leash around the neck of a dog representing the congressman. In a speech bubble, the dog describes himself as "Trump's national champion," while wearing a large button that says, "voted no on 1/6 testimony."

Below the image, the cartoonist, Jeff Darcy, wrote: "Buckeye Bulldog, Rep. Jim Jordan still claims Donald Trump is the true National Champion. The Mar-a-Lago mutt also barked back at a request by the Jan. 6 Committee to speak to him about his Jan. 6 phone calls to Insurrection instigator Donald Trump and plotters meeting at the Willard Hotel on Jan 5."

Mar-a-Lago is Trump's private club in Palm Beach, Florida. The former president regularly spent time at his residence there while he was still serving in the White House. He officially transferred his residency from New York to Florida in October 2019.

Jordan in a Sunday letter to the House select committee investigating the events of January 6 signaled that he would not cooperate after he was asked to provide information. "I have no relevant information that would assist the select committee in advancing any legitimate legislative purpose," the Republican wrote.

The GOP congressman has helped promote misinformation about the 2020 election, which was a key driver of the mob that assaulted the Capitol on January 6 of last year. Like more than 140 other Republican members of Congress, Jordan voted against formal certification of President Joe Biden's Electoral College victory just after the assault occurred.

Trump and his allies continue to claim that the 2020 election was "rigged" or "stolen" through widespread voter fraud. They have not provided evidence substantiating the extraordinary allegation. Despite numerous ballot audits and more than 60 failed legal challenges to the election, no evidence has emerged corroborating the conspiracy theory.

Nonetheless, Jordan drew substantial controversy in December when it was revealed that he forwarded a text message to Trump's former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows laying out a strategy to keep the then president unconstitutionally in office ahead of the Capitol attack. Some have described the Republican lawmaker as a "traitor" for sending that message.

"Look, Jim Jordan is a traitor. He's a traitor to the Constitution of the United States. He has been a traitor to the Constitution of the United States for quite a while, and now we actually have it in text," Representative Ruben Gallego, an Arizona Democrat, told MSNBC in mid-December.

Newsweek reached out to Jordan's press secretary for comment.