Let’s give some credit where credit is due to Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (NY-03) and two other Republican Long Island representatives who voted three times last week against Rep. Jim Jordan for speaker of the House.

Jordan, a right-wing bomb thrower and a founding member of the Freedom Caucus, had no right to even be nominated given his record and the fact that he got as close as he did to becoming second in line to the president shows just how far House Republicans have fallen.

A congressman since 2007, Jordan had passed zero legislation since taking office. That is zero legislation. By the man nominated to be speaker of the House.

Former Republican House Speaker John Boehner called him a “legislative terrorist.”

And former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, co-chair of the Jan. 6 Committee, tweeted about the threat voting for Jordan posed to democracy due to his support of President Trump’s conspiracy to overturn the election and the pressure he placed on Vice President Mike Pence to not fulfill his ceremonial role to certify the election.

“Jim Jordan was in Trump’s conspiracy to steal the election and seize power, he urged that Pence refuse to count lawful electoral votes,” Cheney tweeted. “If R’s nominate Jordan to be speaker, they will be abandoning the Constitution.”

So here was that.

It appears, though, that Cheney’s warning to Republicans at the end of her tweet may have been more important to D’Esposito and fellow Long Island Congressmen Nick LaLota and Andrew Gabarino.

“They’ll lose the House majority and they’ll deserve to,” Cheney concluded.

For D’Esposito this would seem particularly worrisome since his seat is considered to be one of the most in danger in 2024.

Still, in a party in which violence is increasingly being normalized, the three Long Island Republicans’ votes do deserve acknowledgment.

LaLota began receiving threats shortly after he cast the first of his three votes against Jordan.

“If I see your face, I will whip all the hair out of your head, you scumbag,” read one expletive-laden email.

Other representatives who voted against Jordan’s candidacy said they had personally received death threats and even members of their families became targets.

D’Esposito, Garbarino and LaLota explained their opposition to Jordan in a press release before Jordan pulled out.

“We remain steadfast that the next speaker of the House prioritize our neighbors’ concerns, particularly: SALT cap relief, healthcare funding, flood insurance legislation, and assurances that we curb runaway federal spending in a responsible manner that averts any potential government shutdown,” the three men said.

The SALT cap refers to the limit on deductions for state and local taxes that were imposed in 2017 as part of the tax cut that heavily favored large corporate corporations and the rich approved by Trump and congressional Republicans.

The limit has been vehemently opposed by both New York Democrats and Republicans.

Still, the three Long Island representatives didn’t actually completely rule out voting for Jordan.

“While Chairman Jordan has not yet made an offer addressing our priorities, we remain in communication with the chairman in hopes of finding common ground,” they said in their press release before he left the race.

Jordan, it appears, was unwilling to meet the Long Island Republicans’ price for getting their votes.

Instead, the three Republicans cast their votes for former Long Island Rep. Lee Zeldin in three separate votes

This made sense on one level since Zeldin had made a strong showing in his race against Kathy Hochul in 2022 as the Republicans’ choice for governor – despite the Democrats’ large advantage in registered voters across the state.

But on another level, the choice of Zeldin was odd.

Zeldin rose to prominence as a leading defender of Trump when he was impeached for threatening to withhold much-needed military aid to Ukraine in fighting the Russians unless President Volodymyr Zelensky dug up dirt on then-presidential candidate Joe Biden.

Zeldin worked at the time with a small group of right-wing legislators who included, yes, Jim Jordan.

Zeldin spent 12-hour days cross-examining diplomats who testified and raced to television cameras to flay Democrats, with Trumpian flair.

‘It was significant,” Jordan said of Zeldin’s work  “He was willing to put in the time and he’s a sharp guy. That’s the kind of combination you want.”

Jordan and Zeldin were joined in opposing Trump’s impeachment by then Rep. Mark Meadows, who later became Trump’s chief of staff and has since been indicted in Atlanta for his role in trying to overturn the presidential election on Jan. 6.

Zeldin was also one of more than 140 House Republicans and 10 senators who voted against certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election.

That vote, by itself, should disqualify any elected officials from holding office.

But Zeldin went further than that.

On the day the U.S. Capitol was ransacked, as stunned lawmakers emerged from hiding and police officers were still counting the injured, Zeldin walked into the Rotunda, held up a shaky camera, went live on Fox News and blamed Democrats for the assault.

“This isn’t just about the president of the United States,” he said, referring to what prompted the attack. “This is about people on the left and their double standards.”

D’Esposito’s support of Zeldin is not the only instance in which he was, shall we say, inconsistent on policy matters.

A week before the first vote for House speaker, D’Esposito announced in a press release that he had introduced legislation to expel fellow Republican Rep. George Santos (NY-04) from Congress whose presence has posed a threat to D’Esposito and other Republicans.

This came a day after federal officials announced a superseding indictment against Santos that included 10 counts of wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds and lying to Congress.

This brought the total number of charges against Santos to 23 – all of which he pleaded not guilty to.

“George Santos’ many deceptions coupled with the ever-expanding legal case against him further strengthen my long-held belief that he is unfit to serve in Congress, and for that reason, I will be sponsoring a resolution to immediately expel George Santos from the House of Representatives.,” D’Esposito said in the release.

He was joined by LaLota and fellow Reps. Marc Molinaro, Brandon Williams and Mike Lawler.

House Democrats had in May proposed a resolution to expel Santos, but House Republicans including D’Esposito voted to send the resolution to the Ethics Committee, which has yet to render a decision.

A vote to expel Santos was said to be politically perilous for House Republicans at that time since they held only a narrow majority and could not afford to lose more than a handful of votes to pass legislation – or elect a House speaker.

Should Santos be expelled? Sure. He faces 23 credible charges, has a long history of lying to voters and his campaign treasurer has already pleaded guilty to the same charges he faces.

Yes, he is entitled to a presumption of innocence in the eyes of the law. But not for voters. He should go. Same with Democratic U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez.

But why don’t D’Esposito and his fellow Republican representatives hold Trump to the same standard?

Trump faces 91 credible felony charges that include trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election and stealing classified documents that include nuclear secrets and war plans for Iran.

He has already been convicted in civil court of what a federal judge says amounts to rape and his company has been found guilty in New York State of massive fraud stretching back many years.

And three of his top campaign lawyers have pleaded guilty in Atlanta in the last week for their role in trying to overturn the 2020 election on Trump’s behalf.

D’Esposito and the other two GOP representatives appeared willing to support Jordan as a speaker if he met their price. They backed Zeldin. And they have not called for Trump to pull out of the Republican presidential primary.

So we say two cheers for D’Esposito and the other Long Island Republicans. We’ll add a third cheer if they do not vote for another election denier for House speaker.