The House GOP’s election of Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), the architect of the conference’s legal strategy for challenging President Biden’s presidential win in 2020, is putting election denialism back to the center of the national conversation.
Johnson took a leading role in spearheading an amicus brief backing a Texas lawsuit contesting the 2020 election results, which he said prompted former President Trump to call him to express his appreciation.
Trump gave Johnson a hearty endorsement Wednesday, hours after he had torpedoed Majority Whip Tom Emmer’s (R-Minn.) Speakership bid. Emmer had voted to hold up the 2020 election in a series of votes, decisions that led Trump allies such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) to oppose his nomination as Speaker.
Republicans after picking Johnson didn’t want to talk about his role in challenging Biden’s victory; when an ABC News reporter tried to ask Johnson about his 2020 efforts, she was booed by several members while Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) told her to “shut up.”
To Democrats, Johnson’s rise was clear evidence of the former president’s grip on the party. The brief selection of Emmer, after Republicans had rejected two conservatives in Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) and Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan, had been a victory for the center, said former House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.).
“They moved right the first two times, and then when they moved to the center, that center lasted four hours,” he noted. “And Trump dictated that that was not an acceptable choice. And so he was rejected out of hand.”
“It is really sad that Trump continues to have so much sway with people who ought to know a lot better.”
A number of Republicans in Congress have acknowledged that Biden won the election and warned that denying his legal victory could damage the country and the GOP.
Yet Johnson ultimately earned the backing of every GOP member present for the vote, including Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.), who had voted to depose Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) over the issue of election denialism.
Buck, referencing the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, said Johnson’s role is “fundamentally different than somebody who is actively involved in moving the protesters from the mall up here.”
“The amicus brief is fundamentally different than trying to overturn something on the floor. What he did was, he went to the courts. That’s what the courts are set up for. It is absolutely appropriate. I signed that amicus brief, and I think it’s absolutely appropriate to go to the courts. The court said no, and I voted to certify the election,” Buck said.
However, the two parted ways on how to respond thereafter. Johnson voted against election results in two states: Arizona and Pennsylvania.
For many in the caucus, Johnson’s involvement in Trump’s efforts to cling to power were not a central focus in selecting him as the new Speaker.
Rep. John Duarte (R-Calif.) said Johnson succeeded because many viewed him as coming into the job without any baggage.
“I think the reason Mike Johnson was able to come forward and lead the conference and now the House was because he’s not controversial. He’s not been in the middle of the cultural wars. He’s not been in the middle of the internal wars. He’s just a really good guy that everyone believes they can get along with and trust.”
Johnson actually has been in the middle of the culture wars; Democrats were quick to highlight his conservative stances on abortion and gay marriage, and have deemed him “MAGA” Mike Johnson in pointing to his ties to Trump.
Their efforts are a clear warning signal to centrist Republicans running in districts Biden won in the 2020 election: Democrats will seek to tie those GOP lawmakers to Trump and Johnson.
Johnson has been close to Trump in other ways. He was also among a group of GOP lawmakers who coordinated with the White House ahead of Trump’s first impeachment.
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), who led Trump’s first impeachment effort, said Johnson played no small role in trying to keep Trump in office.
“There were a few House leaders who really distinguished themselves for the aggressiveness with which they push the big lie — among their colleagues in the House, in litigation — and Johnson was among the leaders of that pack,” Schiff said.
He, like Hoyer, sees it as a sign of Trump’s lasting influence on the GOP.
“It shows that unless you’re willing to lie about the last election, you are disqualified from being Speaker in this House,” Schiff said.
“Trump is still the dominant voice and force, and he certainly killed the last nomination of Emmer, to the point where he didn’t bother bringing it to a vote on the House floor. So now we have one of the most active election deniers — one the most vocally anti-reproductive freedom ranking members of the House — as their latest candidate. And it just shows the hard-right Trumpist tilt of this party.”
Rep. Nick LaLota (R-N.Y) a former county election board member, sought to conflate Johnson’s actions with comments from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) complaining about the 2016 election and voicing concerns about Russian influence in the contest. Most were in reference to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation on the matter years later.
“I’m gonna look forward; I’m not gonna look back on Hakeem’s record in ‘16 or Johnson’s record in ‘20. I’m gonna look forward,” LaLota said.
“Let’s not just look at one person or one party. Let’s look at everybody’s record. Let’s look at everybody’s statements,” he said, when pressed about differences between Jeffries’s and Johnson’s actions.
Johnson’s election comes after Democrats railed against Jordan’s candidacy, labeling him an election denier and arguing he should not be allowed to lead the House.
In many ways, Johnson has been Jordan’s right-hand man on the panel, often taking the lead on questioning witnesses while complaining the Justice Department has been weaponized against Trump.
“Johnson is like Jim Jordan with a bar card,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, noting Jordan’s law degree.
“He’s a MAGA extremist. He [just] has better manners.”