How Long Will Speaker Johnson’s Honeymoon Last?
Cheers and Jeers For MAGA Mike
By Kevin Howley, October 29, 2023
In a widely circulated clip, Congressional Republicans heckled ABC News reporter Rachel Scott for the temerity of asking newly elected House Speaker, Mike Johnson if he stands behind his extensive efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.
Calls for Scott to “shut up” and “go away” demonstrated the stranglehold a rabid faction of would be fascists have on the GOP. The loyal election deniers successfully bullied moderate Republicans (aka RINOS) into handing the gavel to one of their own, a relatively unknown constitutional lawyer and hardline social conservative from Louisiana.
With the Speaker election debacle behind them, MAGA forces are bound and determined to advance an extremist agenda that would hold up military support for Ukraine, censure political opponents, and pave the way for Donald Trump’s return to the scene of election crimes, misdemeanors and (alleged) felonies.
Bumpy Road Ahead?
Despite, or perhaps because of, the GOP’s Pyrrhic victory in finally electing a new Speaker three weeks after Trump loyalists showed Kevin McCarthy the door, it remains to be seen if Johnson can keep his fractious caucus united in the coming weeks.
According to NBC, Johnson may avoid Kevin McCarthy’s fate, despite his support for a short-term funding bill to avoid a government shutdown next month, the original sin that cost McCarthy the gavel.
Likewise, reporting on a meeting between the new Speaker and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Newsmax notes that after approving a resolution in support of Israel, “Lawmakers then resumed work on a stalled government funding bill. Republicans rescheduled their work period to advance funding bills ahead of the Nov. 17 government funding deadline.”
But it’s complicated. And when it comes to the most important foreign policy issue of the day, Mike Johnson’s honeymoon with MAGA loyalists may already be over.
America First, Not Israel
Headlined, “Mike Johnson Announces First Bill He Will Bring To The House Floor,” 100% Fed Up reports the first item on the new Speaker’s legislative agenda is military funding for Israel. “The country demands strong leadership of this body. And we must not waiver. Our nation’s greatest ally in the Middle East is under attack,” Johnson said.
But military aid for Israel doesn’t sit well with some of the America First crowd. The story goes on to quote skeptics and detractors from social media. “This isn’t the United States of Israel. Israel can take care of theirselves. Stop sending my f****** money to other countries,” demanded a poster named War Clandestine.
100% Fed Up echoes and amplifies admonitions from the likes of JoMa, who took to X to express his disdain for the new speaker, “New boss, same as the old boss.” While DorieB added, “@RepMikeJohnson please put America First. That’s what this was all about. Thank you.”
The hits keep coming as the story highlights conservative reporters voicing their contempt for Johnson’s legislative opener. BlazeTV host Lauren Chen broke the land speed record for xenophobic repudiation: “The only thing consistent about all these politicians is that they absolutely do not give a d*** about Americans.” Not to be outdone, fellow conservative blowhard Savanah Hernandez threw serious shade the new Speaker’s way: “I really enjoyed the first few hours of his speakership where we all had hope that all of our money wouldn’t be going overseas.”
The story concludes with a fun fact sure to fire up the far right’s antisemitic ranks: “According to Open Secrets, the top contributor to Rep. Mike Johnson in 2021-2022 was the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.”
“Called by God”
From another quarter of the right wing echo chamber, Daily Wire takes its cues from Sean Hannity to burnish Johnson’s Christian conservative cred. “Newly-minted House Speaker Mike Johnson told Fox News host Sean Hannity on Thursday that the entirety of his worldview could be found if one would simply ‘go pick up a Bible off your shelf and read it.’”
Headlined, “‘I Make No Apologies’: New House Speaker Says The Bible Is His Worldview,” Daily Wire continues, “Johnson took his Bible with him to deliver his first speech as House Speaker – where he told every other member of Congress that he believed they were all called by God to use their gifts to the best of their ability to serve the American people.”
Leaning into the Christian conservativism, the story quotes Florida representative Greg Steube’s social media post at length. “In January, Congressman Mike Johnson joined me on the House floor while we were in a deadlock over who our next Speaker would be. We lifted up the speaker’s race to the Lord and asked for his divine guidance. Immediately after the prayer, 14 members changed their votes, ultimately leading to Speaker McCarthy securing the gavel by the end of the day.”
No word if Steube, Johnson and their fellow Christian soldiers checked the expiration date on divine intervention. But this much is clear: House Republicans have made a deal with the devil to unify their caucus under the auspices of the criminally indicted former president. God help us all if the MAGA faithful’s prayers are answered next November.
Kevin Howley is a writer and educator whose work has appeared in Journalism: Theory, Practice and Criticism, Social Movement Studies, and Interactions: Studies in Communication and Culture. He is the author and editor of several books including Media Interventions and Drones: Media Discourse and the Public Imagination.
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Newly elected Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (above) may avoid Kevin McCarthy’s fate, despite his support for a short-term funding bill to avoid a government shutdown next month. But when it comes to the most important foreign policy issue of the day, his honeymoon with MAGA loyalists may already be over.
