Speaker Mike Johnson was asked numerous times on CBS’s Face The Nation to say that Biden won the 2020 election and he would not.
Speaker Mike Johnson Won’t Say Biden Won In 2020
Transcript via Face The Nation:
MARGARET BRENNAN: Back in 2021, you were the lawmaker who circulated the – – the legal brief known as the Texas amicus brief challenging the 2020 election outcome in a number of states, which, by CBS editorial standards, makes you an election denier. So…
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE JOHNSON: That’s nonsense. I’m not an election…
(CROSSTALK)
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, that’s – can I get you on the record on that?
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE JOHNSON: I have always been consistent on the record. Did you read the brief? Did you get a chance to read what we filed with the Supreme Court?
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, I have read extensively some criticisms of that, but…
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE JOHNSON: You read commentary about the brief, but not what we submitted to the court, right?
MARGARET BRENNAN: But do you recognize that President Biden won the 2020 election? Can you just put that aside as an issue?
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE JOHNSON: President Biden was certified as the winner of the election. He took the oath of office. He’s been the president for three years.
What I – the argument that we presented to the court, which is our only avenue to do so, was that the Constitution was clearly violated in the 2020 election. It’s Article 2, Section 1, and anyone can Google it and read it for themselves.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Mm-hmm.
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE JOHNSON: The – the system by which you choose electors to elect the president of the United States must be done by the individual states, and the system must be ratified with the state legislatures.
That is language, plain language, out of the Constitution.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So you still have issues with the validity of the 2020 election?
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE JOHNSON: The Constitution was violated in the run-up to the 2020 election, not – not always in bad faith, but in – but in the aftermath of COVID, many states changed their election laws in ways that violated that plain language.
That’s just a fact. We presented that argument and that – that – those facts to the court. And – and it was never directly addressed because of the Texas litigation. But that was the only vehicle we had to present that issue squarely to the court.
Video:
The Speaker Of The House Is An Election Denier
Speaker Mike Johnson is an election denier. Before anyone worries about what this means for the 2024 election, it is important to know that the 119th Congress will be sworn in on January 3, 2025. The certification of the 2024 presidential election will happen on January 6, 2025, so unless Republicans keep their House majority, it will be new Speaker Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) who will be overseeing the certification of the election.
Mike Johnson’s refusal to say that Biden won the 2020 election was part of the continuing Republican attempt to delegitimize democracy in the United States. Johnson isn’t just another Republican who refuses to acknowledge reality. He is also the highest-ranking Republican in the line of presidential succession.
Having a person who doesn’t support democracy this close to the presidency presents a danger to the United States.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association