Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has so far proven mostly a disappointment to the MAGA base of the Republican Party, as he has not held a particularly tough line on the two big issues for the party, border security and the budget, despite tough rhetoric on the subject. But, he is at least a staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump.
Such is what Speaker Johnson made clear during a recent appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” reiterating his support for the former president and likely 2024 GOP presidential candidate when asked about the subject.
Speaking on the matter, Speaker Johnson first noted that he was one of Trump’s early supporters in the legislature, saying, “I have endorsed him wholeheartedly. Look, I was one of the closest allies President Trump had in Congress.”
Continuing, he noted that Trump had a terrific first term and his policies worked phenomenally, so they need to be brought back, saying, “He had a phenomenal first term. Those first two years, as you all know, we brought about the greatest economic numbers in the world and not just the country because his policies worked, and I am all-in for Trump. I expect he will be our nominee, and he will win it, and we have to make Biden a one-term president. We have to do that.”
Unfortunately, Speaker Johnson also backed the idea of a bipartisan continuing resolution to prevent a government shutdown, as opposed to Congress finally passing a real budget instead of unending continuing resolutions. He said, “In about an hour, I’ll go in with all the House Republicans, and [Minority Leader Rep.] Hakeem Jeffries will go meet with all the Democrats, and we’ll figure out the final numbers.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer even congratulated Speaker Johnson on the continuing resolution’s provisions, saying, “For now, I am pleased that Speaker Johnson seems to be moving in our direction by advancing a CR that does not include the highly partisan cuts that Democrats have warned against.”
Watch him here:
Defending the continuing resolution in an interview with Fox & Friends, Speaker Johnson said, “We’re doing something very different here by breaking it up and doing the ladder CR. We have a different process. It wasn’t Kevin’s fault, in my estimation. What happened before circumstances were different than they are right now. By doing this, we actually allow ourselves to do our job and fight for our conservative principles. Some of the people you name are some of my closest friends. I understand it. I hate CRs. We shouldn’t do this, and we’re not going to do it again next year. We’re going to get back to the actual lawful appropriations process that the American people deserve. But this is a necessary step to bridge that gap to get us there and prevent a government shutdown.”
Speaker Johnson also recently decried the idea of an Israel-Hamas ceasefire, arguing, “The calls for a ceasefire are outrageous.” Continuing, he said, “There are hundreds of hostages, many of them Americans, still stuck inside Gaza.” He then added, “Israel will cease their counter offensive when Hamas ceases to be a threat to the Jewish state.”
Featured image credit: By Office of Representative Mike Johnson – Facebook, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=139539693
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