You can title this illustration Jim Jordan likes to be on top.

I was prompted to photoshop this illustration after reading the following in this column in today’s NY Times:

Mr. Jordan clearly fancies himself more of a Trumpian strongman. He has never been a leader or a serious legislator but is, rather, a career pugilist who seems developmentally stuck in his glory days as a high school and college wrestler. When nominating him on the House floor Tuesday, Elise Stefanik (one of the more painful cautionary tales about the corrosiveness of Trumpism) felt compelled to cite his mad skills “on the wrestling mat.” Seriously? The guy is pushing 60, and we’re still yammering about his teenage takedowns? And not to be indelicate, but do Republicans really want people thinking all that hard about Mr. Jordan’s wrestling baggage?

NY Times

Business Insider had an article, Here’s what we know about Jim Jordan and the Ohio State University wrestling scandal, about Jordan’s “wrestling baggage” yesterday (here).

I also liked the way Amanda Marcotte described him in Salon especially her using the word “hectoring:”

No one in history has embodied the role of a fascist gym teacher more thoroughly than Jordan, a man whose only waking mode is “hectoring.” That’s why his denials of guilt in the infamous sex abuse scandal at Ohio State are somewhat difficult to believe.

from Jim Jordan faces the abyss — but GOP “moderates” can’t escape the MAGA vortex

I think Jordan would rather people see him as Michelle Cottle describes him, as a pugilist, punching the lights out of his opponents than as a wrestler in a tight wrestling singlet with his sweaty body trying to pin another man’s sweaty body to the mat.

In boxing hitting below the belt is forbidden. In wrestling attacking the nether regions is not only allowed but can lead to victory.

Here’s a video of Jordan winning a the NCCA 1985 championship wrestling match. He won the 1985 and 1986 NCAA championship matches in the 134-pound weight class.

Some screenshots (Jordan is in the red)

Back in his wrestling days I am sure Jordan preferred to be literally on top but as shown below even when it may appear he’s losing he was able to control the legs of his opponent John Smith (in on right in dark singlet) form Oklahoma State.

Like Trump, Jordan spent time watching muscular sweaty men grappling and grabbing each other.

Here’s an excerpt from 4 Ways Donald Trump’s Pro Wrestling Experience Is Like His Campaign Today published in 2016.

Pro wrestling is not a sport for the modest and during his stint on WWE, Trump once told off McMahon with, “Your grapefruits are no match for my Trump Towers.”

Those kind of allusions have popped up on the campaign trail too, where Trump infamously bragged to Marco Rubio during a Republican debate about the size of his hands, and other parts of his anatomy.

NPR

Wrestling as a form of mock combat goes back to pre-historic times. Even the great apes engaged in it. Consider:

Wrestling as a type of mock combat and display behaviour among males has anthropological roots, and is also seen in non-human Great Apes. Its documented history however necessarily begins with the history of pictorial representations. The oldest representations of wrestling date back 15,000-20,000 years ago, found in southern France. Cave paintings in the Bayankhongor Province of Mongolia dating back to Neolithic age of 7000 BC show grappling of two naked men and surrounded by crowds. In the Ancient Mesopotamia, forms of belt wrestling were popular from earliest times. A carving on a stone slabe showing three pairs of wrestlers was dated to around 3000 BC. A cast Bronze figurine, (perhaps the base of a vase) has been found at Khafaji in Iraq that shows two figures in a wrestling hold that dates to around 2600 BC. The statue is one of the earliest depictions of sport and is housed in the National Museum of Iraq.

Wikipedia, History of Wrestling

Adendum:

Jim Jordan was awarded the Medal of Freedom award in 2021 a few days after Jan. 6th in a ceremony which forwas held in private with no press allowed for reasons we can only speculate about considering how much Trump always loves to be in the spotlight. This could reresent an example which is as inexplicable as it is rare of Trump doing something he considered nice for someone when there wasn’t much or anything in it for himself. Earlier that week he awarded the Medal of Freedom to Devin Nunes in another private cermony.

Excerpts (emphasis added) from Trump rewards GOP ally Rep. Jim Jordan with Medal of Freedom.

The nation’s highest civilian honor was presented to Jordan in a private ceremony at the White House It comes as Trump has been rewarding supporters with awards and the perks and prestige associated with serving on a host of federal advisory boards and commissions.

——

The White House in a statement noted Jordan “led the effort to confront the impeachment witch hunt” last year.

The nation’s highest civilian honor was presented to Jordan in a private ceremony at the White House It comes as Trump has been rewarding supporters with awards and the perks and prestige associated with serving on a host of federal advisory boards and commissions.

Personal Note: My own history in grappling sports

In high school one of my best friends was on the wrestling team. He was very good and won lots of matches. He persuaded me to go out for intramural wrestling and taught me some basic moves. Like Jordan I was in the 134 lb. weight class. Not that it matters, but I wore gym shorts and a t-shirt for my one and only match. I was pinned in about 30 seconds by a student who went on to become a champion college wrestler at Columbia. In fact he established (and apparently still holds) an Ivy League and Eastern Intercollegiate record for successfully wrestling up four weight classes (123 to 157) in the 1963 EIWA Tournament.

In my freshman year at Michigan State I joined the judo club when I wore a gi, which is similar to a shorty bathrobe worn over pajama bottoms. Unlike in the pictured black belt gi below I never got beyond the beginners white belt. I did however learn how to be thrown and fall without getting hurt too badly.