When Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) won the election for House Speaker, he was immediately congratulated by Donald Trump.
While Trump did not specifically endorse Johnson for the position, he made it pretty clear prior that Johnson was his guy.
Johnson just returned the favor by endorsing Trump in the primary election as well as defending his previous claims that the 2020 election had been stolen from Trump.
Trump’s Guy
Johnson was appearing on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” when he broke the news, stating, "I'm all in for President Trump. I expect he'll be our nominee, and we have to make [President Joe] Biden a one-term president."
Johnson, who to my knowledge had not yet backed anyone in the race, insisted that he had already backed Trump, stating, "I have endorsed him wholeheartedly."
For the life of me, I cannot find any previous statement by Johnson that he had officially endorsed Trump in the 2024 election.
Johnson supported Trump in 2020 as well as writing the amicus brief that was signed off on by GOP members of the House to support the election case brought by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
On backing Trump now, he stated, "It can't be about personalities, it's got to be about policies and principles," citing that in his opinion, Trump was superior to Biden on both fronts.
Regarding Trump’s claims about the 2020 election, Johnson added, "He just felt like he was cheated in that election, and I think that's a core conviction of his."
When Johnson was pressed about statements that Trump has made that have been debunked, Johnson simply stated, "There are a lot of people in Washington who say things that are not accurate all the time."
From my perspective, it was not the best interview for Johnson, as he came off a bit foolish.
After passing the temporary government spending bill, I am not sure how much longer he will have Trump or MAGA support, as there was clear dissension in the Republican Party, with more Democrats voting for the bill than Republicans.
This was McCarthy’s undoing, so we will have to see how they respond to Johnson now.
