Rep. Jim Jordan had no idea his office invited Kim Davis to the State of the Union

A surprise guest at the State of the Union.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 13 January 2016

The mystery of who invited Kim Davis to the Tuesday night's State of the Union has finally been cracked — and the answer is a surprise to the inviter himself. The Huffington Post reports that, though he didn't know it until long after the invitations were sent out, it was House Freedom Caucus Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) who invited the Kentucky clerk, who was briefly jailed last year after refusing to issue same-sex marriage licenses.

"I found out today," Jordan said after being pressed late Tuesday afternoon on whether he gave Davis the ticket. "And I'm being totally honest with you." Jordan initially said that he "didn't invite anyone" and that his office had given their tickets to the Family Research Council, but a call to his office quickly proved otherwise. Apparently, unbeknownst to Jordan, the Family Research Council had requested that the office give a ticket to Kim Davis' family.

Jordan said after the fact that he was absolutely fine with the ticket going to Davis — even if he didn't know it at the time.