The GOP finally rallied behind one of its members and elected a Speaker of the House, mild-mannered but surprisingly conservative Mike Johnson on Louisiana. Despite not being everything the House Freedom Caucus and more conservative GOP voters would want, Johnson so far appears like a big step up over former Speaker McCarthy. As a result, the left is already losing it.
That meltdown was clearly visible in a statement obtained and posted to X by Jake Sherman, the founder of Punch Bowl News, in which the Biden Campaign, despite the Biden Administration’s official congratulation of Johnson, condemned Johnson’s election.
That campaign statement, released by Ammar Moussa, a spokesperson for Biden-Harris 2024, read, “MAGA Mike Johnson’s ascension to the speakership cements the extreme MAGA takeover of the House Republican Conference. Now, Donald Trump has his loyal foot soldier to ban abortion nationwide, lead efforts to deny free and fair election results, gut Social Security and Medicare, and advance the extreme MAGA agenda at the expense of middle-class families.”
It continued, “22 days before Congress must act to avoid a government shutdown and while our allies overseas at war depend on our help, extreme MAGA House Republicans elevated a man to second-in-line to the presidency who still won’t admit President Biden won the 2020 election. The American people have rejected the extreme MAGA ideology at the ballot box because they understand what’s at stake. And so to every MAGA Republican who supported this choice: We’ll see you in November.”
That stood in stark contrast to the official White House statement, which read, “Jill and I congratulate Speaker Johnson on his election. As I said when this process began, whoever the Speaker is, I will seek to work with them in good faith on behalf of the American people. That’s a principle I have always held to, and that I’ve acted on – delivering major bipartisan legislation on infrastructure, outcompeting China, gun reform, and veterans care. I restated my willingness to continue working across the aisle after Republicans won the majority in the House last year. By the same token, the American people have made clear that they expect House Republicans to work with me and with Senate Democrats to govern across the aisle – to protect our urgent national security interests and grow our economy for the middle class. While House Republicans spent the last 22 days determining who would lead their conference, I have worked on those pressing issues, proposing a historic supplemental funding package that advances our bipartisan national security interests in Israel and Ukraine, secures our border, and invests in the American people. These priorities have been endorsed by leaders in both parties. We need to move swiftly to address our national security needs and to avoid a shutdown in 22 days. Even though we have real disagreements about important issues, there should be mutual effort to find common ground wherever we can. This is a time for all of us to act responsibly, and to put the good of the American people and the everyday priorities of American families above any partisanship.”
1) Biden campaign statement on Johnson
2 and 3) White House statement. pic.twitter.com/wevlllzfU1— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) October 25, 2023
In any case, Team Biden wasn’t the only leftist account to go berserk over Johnson’s win. Katie Porter, a Democrat Congresswoman and Senate candidate in California, accused Johnson of being an insurrectionist, saying (punctuation added for ease of reading), “Anti-Abortion. Anti-LGBTQ+. Anti-Social Security. Anti-Medicare. Anti-Democracy. Insurrectionist Mike Johnson is now second in line to the presidency. The American people deserve better.”
Similarly, “Squad” member Ilhan Omar said, “House GOP has made MAGA extremist, Mike Johnson Speaker. Notable achievements: ❌Architect of overturning election ❌Seeks abortion ban ❌Voted against LGBTQ+ rights ❌Wants to gut Social Security With this choice, Republicans have embraced the extreme MAGA playbook.“
House GOP has made MAGA extremist, Mike Johnson Speaker.
Notable achievements:
❌Architect of overturning election
❌Seeks abortion ban
❌Voted against LGBTQ+ rights
❌Wants to gut Social Security
With this choice, Republicans have embraced the extreme MAGA playbook. https://t.co/zR9G9Xegxi— Rep. Ilhan Omar (@Ilhan) October 25, 2023
Adam Schiff joined in as well, saying, “You might be Googling who Mike Johnson is this morning. Let me make it simple: Johnson is a hard-right, pro-Trump, leading election denier in the House. Sadly, this is what passes for Speaker material in the Republican conference.“
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