Democrats slam GOP House members over their votes for new Speaker Mike Johnson
Every Republican in the House voted for Johnson, despite his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ+ positions.
Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives are being targeted by their Democratic opponents for electing Louisiana Republican Mike Johnson speaker.
Johnson won the speakership Wednesday after every one of the 220 House Republicans voted for him. Johnson is an election denier who was involved in former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Johnson is also virulently opposed to abortion and LGBTQ+ rights.
“After weeks of partisan squabbles, abandoning our allies under attack, and pushing us dangerously close to a government shutdown – Republicans have chosen a MAGA acolyte to push an extreme agenda in the House at the expense of middle-class families,” Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-WA), chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said in a statement.
Johnson spread lies about fraud in the 2020 election, including a baseless conspiracy theory about voting machines.
“When you have a software system that is used across the country that is suspect because it came from Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela, when you have testimonials of people like this, but in large numbers, it begs to be litigated and investigated,” Johnson said in an interview on Shreveport talk radio station KEEL after the 2020 election, according to New York magazine’s Intelligencer.
Politico reported that Johnson met with congressional colleagues on Jan. 5, 2021, to help convince them to join him in voting against certifying Joe Biden’s win.
“This is a very weighty decision. All of us have prayed for God’s discernment. I know I’ve prayed for each of you individually,” Johnson said at the meeting, according to Politico.
Johnson also authored an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a challenge by the state of Texas to the 2020 presidential election results in four states Biden won. The amicus brief urged the Court to nullify the presidential results in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, and order new elections be held in those states.
Johnson has also co-sponsored legislation that would ban abortion at the moment of conception.
And during a February hearing of the House Judiciary Committee, he said the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade was good because it would ensure that more babies are born who can later become productive workers and support the economy.
“We have an aging population here, we don’t have able-bodied workers, enough of them in the economy to support our programs, Social Security and Medicare for example,” Johnson said.
Johnson has also supported anti-sodomy laws and made offensive comments about the LGBTQ+ community.
In a 2003 op-ed, Johnson criticized the Supreme Court’s decision in Lawrence v. Texas, which said a Texas law that criminalized gay sex was an illegal violation of the 14th Amendment. Johnson wrote that homosexuals lived “abnormal lifestyles” and engaged in “dangerous sexual conduct.”
“By closing these bedroom doors, they have opened Pandora’s box,” Johnson wrote.
In an op-ed in 2004, Johnson said that legalizing same-sex marriage would cause “chaos and sexual anarchy that could doom even the strongest republic.”
Rep. John James (R-MI) said in a statement that he proudly voted for Johnson for speaker.
“The American people are counting on us to deliver for them, and I look forward to continuing the work that this majority’s already accomplished — with Speaker Johnson at the helm — to address these critical issues,” James said.
Carl Marlinga, one of a number of Democrats running to try to oust James next November, tweeted: “James just voted for a man who will ban abortions nationwide if given the chance. It’s not surprising since James supports this same effort. If you want to protect abortion rights, then let’s defeat James.”
