After receiving criticism for his previous comments on same-sex marriage, new Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.) said he wanted to be clear on his stance Thursday: He is “a rule of law guy.”
“I made a career defending the rule of law. I respect the rule of law,” Johnson said on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show Thursday. “When the Supreme Court issued the Obergefell opinion, that became the law of the land, OK.”
The Louisiana representative was elected to the Speaker position Wednesday after multiple previous nominations by the GOP failed to find a replacement for former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.)
“I respect the rule of law and also genuinely love all people, regardless of their lifestyle choices,” he said. “This is not about the people themselves.”
Johnson noted that while he is a “Bible-believing Christian,” he doesn’t have an agenda “other than what’s best for the American people and to defend the rule of law.”
Johnson has a history of being opposed to same-sex marriage and has a record of using anti-gay language and fighting against gay rights.
In the Thursday interview, Johnson said his previous statements came when he was working as a litigator “called upon to defend” marriage amendments on the state level years ago.
“Some of these comments were 15 years ago,” he said. “I don’t even remember some of them.”
In a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Kelley Robinson, the president of LGBTQ advocacy organization the Human Rights Campaign, said everyone who voted for Johnson on Wednesday will have a “stain on their record.”
“Mike Johnson is someone who doesn’t hesitate to scream his hatred for the LGBTQ+ community from the rooftops while introducing legislation that seeks to erase us from society and history,” Robinson posted.
Johnson’s comments Thursday indicate he may be taking a different approach as Speaker than he did in the past.