Friend,
If you thought things were bad under the leadership of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, things are about to get a lot worse under the leadership of Rep. Mike Johnson.
After three weeks of turmoil and division among House Republicans in electing a new Speaker of the House, they’ve finally settled on their choice: a pro-MAGA far-right extremist whose beliefs are sharply out of line with the vast majority of Americans.
Here are just some of the reasons we should be worried about what’s to come under Rep. Johnson’s leadership:
- An election denier and close ally to former President Trump, Speaker Johnson played a key role in the attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, asserting the Big Lie that the election was “rigged.”
- A staunch far-right social and religious extremist, Rep. Johnson formerly served as a lawyer and spokesman for the right-wing group Alliance Defending Freedom – designated a “hate group” by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
- Rep. Johnson supports a full ban on abortion with no exceptions, at one point referring to Roe as a “legal fiction that the Supreme Court foisted upon this country.”
- Johnson is a staunch opponent of LGBTQ equality, calling homosexuality an “inherently unnatural” and “dangerous lifestyle” that would possibly even destroy “the entire democratic system.”
- As recently as 2018, Johnson has said his “number one priority” is to make deep cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. During his time chairing the Republican Study Committee, he crafted budgets that would have slashed $3 trillion from Medicaid and health care spending in addition to over $750 billion from Social Security.
- Johnson has promoted anti-immigrant “great replacement theory” rhetoric favored by nativists and antisemitic white nationalists. He has repeatedly accused President Joe Biden of intentionally seeking to destroy America through immigration.
It is not surprising that, once again, House Republicans have no plans to turn back from an authoritarian, exclusionary, fundamentally un-American path.
As we have done since Trump first came down that escalator what now seems like decades of terrible decisions ago, we will continue to stand up to the MAGA Right — whether it is Trump directly or those whose puppet strings he continues to pull, including the new House Speaker.
We need YOU with us in this fight. The laughable-if-it-wasn’t-so-dangerous drama of the past three weeks’ jostling for a leader on the right has shown that the Trump fever has, if anything, only take a stronger hold on the Republican Party.
And don’t just take our word for it, here are recent remarks by well-known MAGA Republican Matt Gaetz of Florida after Rep. Johnson was elected Speaker:
“If you don’t think that moving from Kevin McCarthy to MAGA Mike Johnson shows the ascendance of this movement and where the power in the Republican Party truly lies, then you’re not paying attention.”
As we head into 2024, it will be more important than ever to build a strong bullwork against these forces. It will take all of us working together and we cannot let our guard down for a single moment.
Thanks for all that you do,
Svante Myrick
President
People For the American Way
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Sources:
"Far Right Holds House Hostage; Pro-MAGA, Anti-Freedom Mike Johnson Nominated For Speaker" Right Wing Watch, 10/25/23
"Right Wing Bonus Tracks: One Of Our Guys" Right Wing Watch, 10/25/23
"In Johnson, House Republicans Elevate One of Their Staunchest Conservatives" The New York Times, 10/25/23
"The Far Right Gets Its Man of the House" The New York Times, 10/25/23
"Johnson Played Leading Role in Effort to Overturn 2020 Election" The New York Times, 10/25/23
"New speaker of the House Mike Johnson once wrote in support of the criminalization of gay sex" CNN Politics, 10/25/23
"Gaetz: Johnson victory proves MAGA power over Republican party" The Hill, 10/25/23
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