There were no white plumes of smoke to signal the House of Representatives had selected a new Speaker, just the announcement Wednesday that Louisiana Congressman Michael Johnson had garnered 220 votes to become that chamber’s top republican. Johnson succeeds former Speaker Kevin McCarthy who was ousted nearly three weeks ago by eight conservative republicans in a coup led by Florida’s Matt Gaetz.
Johnson was able to do what the Freedom Caucuses’ Jim Jordan and fellow republican Steve Scalise could not – acquire the necessary votes to get elected Speaker. For a taste of how the MSM is reacting to Johnson’s ascension, here is a sampling of headlines from The Drudge Report: “Mega MAGA Mike Johnson Elected Speaker of the House” “Least Experienced in 140 years” “Moved to Void Biden Election Win” “Wrote in support of criminalizing gay sex!”
Johnson is a 51-year-old father of four and an evangelical Christian, and judging by his political stances, a solid conservative and someone around whom the Freedom Caucus can rally. However, as Politico points out, despite being a “hard right legal warrior” Johnson may be less divisive than Jordan:” A staunch social conservative with a long history of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, he’s also managed on Capitol Hill to forge a less fractious persona, an ideological partisan and a Donald Trump ally who founded the so-called “Honor and Civility Caucus” pledging that “our political rivals in Congress are not our enemies.” That hasn’t stopped the rabid left from calling Johnson a “raging homophobe.”
Johnson’s election will mean the likes of MSNBC and CNN will have to find other stories with which to fill their airtime. The Morning Joe in particular has been giddy these past couple of weeks over republicans’ failure to agree on a new Speaker. CNN’s Jake Tapper, reporting live from Tel Aviv, feigned frustration over the lack of a new Speaker: “And of course, we have to interrupt this (Hama’s terror strikes) for one moment to cover the complete and utter clown car that is the House Republican speaker’s race back in Washington, D.C.”
Johnson is a strong backer of Israel and supporter of Ukraine in its fight with Russia. Although recently he opposed two different appropriations bills that provided aid to Ukraine, one last year, the other in September. In an X post in February, Johnson wrote American taxpayers have sent over 100 billion dollars in aid to Ukraine. They deserve to know if the Ukrainian government is being entirely forthcoming and transparent about the use of this massive sum of taxpayer money.”
Don’t expect any democrats to laud Johnson in his new post.
Now with the Speakership locked up, the House can join the Senate and the White House in dealing with the myriad problems facing the country: keeping America from becoming more deeply involved in two foreign wars, fighting the invasion at our southern border, getting a handle on raging inflation and tamping down the culture wars that are slowly bringing America to its knees. Congratulations Mr. Speaker, now it's time to get to work.