PoliticusUSA is corporate and free. The freedom from corporate news is supported by readers like you, so please support us by becoming a subscriber.
Mike Johnson can only afford to lose two in Friday’s Speaker of the House election, and he has already lost one. Rep. Thomas Massie declared that he would not support Johnson for the speaker, so while trying to express confidence, but oozing desperation, Speaker Johnson went on Fox and Friends.
After discussing the terror attack in New Orleans, Johnson was asked, “ Mr. Speaker, let me shift gears just a bit. You have tomorrow’s vote for you as speaker. What can you tell us? How much confidence do you have that you will have the necessary votes to retain the gavel?”
Speaker Johnson replied:
We’re going to get this done. Look, I’m, I’m humbled and honored to have president Trump’s endorsement for the, for Uh, I’m going to be talking about the role again, as well as the endorsement of leaders across the conservative spectrum and the Republican Party.
All my colleagues that are, that are standing with us and we will get this done. Look, the, the things that we’re talking about this morning are an illustration that we live in very serious times. We, we cannot afford any palace drama here. We have got to get the Congress started, which begins tomorrow, and we have to get immediately to work.
Video:
Trump gave Johnson his full endorsement, so it would be a complete embarrassment if Johnson didn’t cruise to reelection.
Democrats have pledged that there will be zero Democratic votes available to get Johnson elected. Every single Democrat will be voting for Democratic Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries.
For years, the mainstream media has been pushing the Trump-fed narrative that the president-elect controls the Republicans in the House, but as the government funding bill implosion demonstrated, Trump’s influence appears to be on the decline.
If Mike Johnson has to fight through multiple ballots to be reelected as the speaker, it would be a defeat for Trump.
A Johnson loss would be more evidence of the declining influence of Trump, who will enter office as a lame-duck president.
Mike Johnson is desperate because if the speaker election drags out, it will delay the certification of the 2024 election.
Things are already off to a bad start for Republicans before they can take power.
What do you think about Mike Johnson’s using a terrorist attack to try to get reelected? Share your thoughts in the comments below.