Johnson, 51, was elected Wednesday in a 220-209 vote in the House of Representatives, where Republicans hold a narrow majority. With such a slim majority Johnson couldn’t afford to lose many defectors in that floor vote and, in the final tally, every Republican voted for their nominee in a sudden show of party unity after three weeks of infighting.
“Democracy is messy sometimes but it is our system,” Johnson said after his nomination. “We’re going to restore your trust in what we do here.”
First order of business delivers good news to IsraelParrish Alford (AFN) One of the first acts of business for the U.S. House in its return to work was a resolution showing support for Israel in its war against Hamas. The bipartisan measure passed with 412 in favor, 10 against, and six taking no stand and voting "present." The lone Republican to vote against the measure was Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who wrote on the social media platform X that he could not support sanctions against a foreign nation, in this case Iran, as the resolution calls for. Rep. Chris Smith (R-New Jersey) was impressed by the near-unanimous vote for the resolution. "That almost never happens on any piece of legislation. That's amazing," Smith said on Washington Watch Tuesday. "And it sends a very clear message of our solidarity with Israel as well as our profound opposition to Hamas, their use of torture, rape and all the terrorism tactics that they have," While not unanimous, the resolution showed far more support than Israel has received in many quarters of late – including the United Nations, where Secretary-General Antonio Guterres implied the Hamas attacks on Israel were provoked. "The attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum. The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation. They have seen their land steadily devoured by settlements and plagued by violence, their economy stifled, their people displaced, and their homes demolished. Their hopes for a political solution to their plight have been vanishing," Guterres said. House member wants to 'take an ax' to U.N. budget giving Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Florida) was among those expressing outrage over the U.N.'s response. Waltz told show host Tony Perkins that the House has voted to defund several U.N. initiatives. The U.S. covers almost 25% of the United Nations' budget, he noted. 
Waltz takes issue with the fact that China and Cuba have seats on the U.N.'s Human Rights Council and with UNESCO – the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization – which he says "blatantly" teaches antisemitism. The Florida congressman says the U.N. is "showing their true colors." "We've just got to take an ax to our funding of the U.N.," he emphasized. "It has gone way off the rails from its original intention. And oh, by the way, when you have a Security Council member in Russia invading its neighbors … we didn't hear too many harsh words from the U. N. General Secretary then. I wonder if in the back of his mind, does he think the United States provoked 9-11?" Waltz asked. |
A promise to restore trust in Congress might be a stretch, with an approval rating that hovers around 11%, but many were happy Republicans were rallying around a nominee with strong conservative credentials.
"Mike Johnson will defend our constitutional rights and challenge the status quo. He’s exactly the kind of leader the House needs," Jenny Beth Martin, who leads Tea Party Patriots, wrote on Twitter.
Tony Perkins, who leads the Family Research Council, said in a statement Johnson is a personal friend and God answered prayers with his election as House Speaker.
"Mike will be the America First speaker we need and will lead with spiritual insight and political courage," Perkins wrote.
Longtime conservative activist Sandy Rios, who is director of governmental affairs at the American Family Association, tells AFN the last-minute emergence of Rep. Johnson felt like witnessing a miracle.
“Mike Johnson is a very strong Christian and, in addition to that that, he has the right policies,” says Rios, a longtime radio talk show host.
Johnson called 'theocrat' and 'election denier'
During his speech to Congress as the House Speaker-elect, Johnson said his Christian faith recognizes that God, in His sovereignty, was allowing all of them to serve in Congress in a position of authority. He then stated:
I believe that each one of us has a huge responsibility today to use the gifts that God has given us to serve the extraordinary people of this country. And they deserve it. And to ensure that our republic remains standing as the great beacon of light and hope and freedom in a world that desperately needs it.
For invoking God and his faith, left-wing critics are calling Rep. Johnson a “theocrat” in social media posts. He was described as an “extreme Christian fundamentalist” in a New Republic headline. Other liberal writers are pointing out Johnson has criticized homosexuality as unnatural and sinful, which is true both in nature and in biblical orthodoxy but is akin to blasphemy on the Far Left.
Johnson is also being called an “election denier” by the Far Left for helping Donald Trump challenge the 2020 election results. A headline in Rolling Stone predictably claimed he attempt a “coup” in 2020, and a similar Vanity Fair headline said the new House Speaker tried to “steal an election.”
Democrats, however, are on the record claiming over and over Donald Trump "stole" the 2016 and was therefore an "illegitimate" president.
"Democrats always accuse conservatives of doing exactly what they do," Rios says. "They're liars and hypocrites."
Populism won in battle for Speaker
Rios’ long career as a radio talk show host put her in close touch with lawmakers on Capitol Hill, including Rep. Jim Jordan. Rios publicly supported Jordan in his unsuccessful push for the Speaker nomination late last week only to watch him bow out when a secret ballot vote totaled 86-112. After that vote last Friday, Oct. 20, Republicans left town for the weekend with no Speaker nominee. They then returned this week to choose a nominee from a list of nine potential nominees. After five rounds of voting Tuesday morning, Rep. Tom Emmer emerged as the winner but then he suddenly dropped out just hours later after learning he didn’t have enough votes to win a floor vote.
In light of that political circus, veteran conservative activist Gary Bauer tells AFN the public will likely never know the details that went on behind the scenes in Washington, D.C. when promises were made and deals were promised in the bid for the House Speaker post.
“But make no mistake about it,” he says. “This was a battle between elements of the Republican Party that are folks that want to upset the apple cart and the way Washington runs.”
That leaves the other group of Republicans represented by Rep. Mike Johnson, Bauer says, who are not just politically conservative. They also are more populist politicians, he says, because they recognize what frustrates Republican voters and what they are demanding from their representatives.
Editor's Note: The American Family Association is the parent organization of the American Family News Network, which operates AFN.net.
