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Speaker Nominee Mike Johnson Is a ‘Virulent Christian Nationalist’ and Anti-LGBTQ ‘MAGA Extremist’: Critics

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House Republicans on Tuesday voted to make U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson, a little-known, low-profile, 51-year old far-right U.S. Congressman from Louisiana their latest nominee to become Speaker. Wednesday morning, he won Donald Trump’s support, making his ascension to become the third most-powerful elected official in the U.S. government extremely likely.

“The latest Republican Speaker nominee is MAGA extremist Mike Johnson,” warns U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel (D-FL). She calls him an “architect of Trump’s plot to overturn the election,” who “Authored a bill criminalizing abortion nationwide,” and “Supports slashing Social Security and Medicare.”

“This is who they want to run the House?” asks Frankel, who serves as the chair of the Democratic Women’s Caucus.

But for Trump’s far-right MAGA crowd, the answer appears to be “yes.” Johnson checks all the boxes. An evangelical Christian, he indeed not only opposes same-sex marriage and abortion, he has actively worked in both his private and public life to end those civil rights. Early in his career, Johnson worked to make divorce more difficult. Last year he voted against legislation to protect same-sex and interracial marriages. And he opposes U.S. support for Ukraine to defend itself against Vladimir Putin’s illegal war, earning him an “F” from Republicans for Ukraine.

READ MORE: ‘I Failed to Do My Due Diligence’: Tearful Jenna Ellis Admits Guilt as ‘a Christian’

Last year on May 14, Johnson defended his vote against aid to Ukraine by saying, ‘We should not be sending another $40 billion abroad when our own border is in chaos, American mothers are struggling to find baby formula, gas prices are at record highs, and American families are struggling to make ends meet, without sufficient oversight over where the money will go.”

Days later he voted against the Democrats’ bill to address the nationwide shortage of baby formula.

And just one month later, after voting against helping desperate families get access to baby formula, Johnson praised the U.S. Supreme Court striking down the right to abortion, calling it a “joyous day.”

“Many of us have been working for this day our entire adult lives,” he added.

Legal experts who work in the areas of constitutional and First Amendment law are voicing great concern.

“Mike Johnson is a virulent Christian Nationalist who pushed all kinds of hateful anti-LGBTQ bigotry while at Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian Nationalist legal outfit that wants to drag this country back to the 5th century,” warns Andrew L. Seidel, a constitutional attorney who serves Vice President of Strategic Communications for Americans United for Separation of Church and State. He is the author of “The Founding Myth: Why Christian Nationalism Is Un-American.”

Recently, Congressman Johnson “opposed the continuing resolution that wound up costing [Speaker Kevin] McCarthy his job, though he voted to retain McCarthy as speaker,” his home state newspaper, The Times-Picayune reports. The Louisiana paper describes Johnson as “among the most right-wing candidates for speaker who sought the nomination,” “an evangelical Christian conservative who is close to the Louisiana Family Forum, the influential religious conservative group in Baton Rouge,” and adds that prior “to politics, Johnson represented churches, pastors and congregants whose vision of religious freedom conflicted with government regulations.”

Johnson’s close ties to the far Christian right also has many legal experts and activists extremely concerned.

Before coming to Congress, as Seidel noted, Johnson served as Senior Legal Counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom. The ADF is designated as an anti-LGBTQ hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The SPLC says, “the Alliance Defending Freedom is a legal advocacy and training group that has supported the recriminalization of sexual acts between consenting LGBTQ adults in the U.S. and criminalization abroad; has defended state-sanctioned sterilization of trans people abroad; has contended that LGBTQ people are more likely to engage in pedophilia; and claims that a ‘homosexual agenda’ will destroy Christianity and society. ADF also works to develop ‘religious liberty’ legislation and case law that will allow the denial of goods and services to LGBTQ people on the basis of religion. Since the election of President Trump, ADF has become one of the most influential groups informing the administration’s attack on LGBTQ rights.”

READ MORE: Trump Goes All in on Xenophobic Christian Nationalism in New Hampshire

The ADF is not the only anti-LGBTQ hate group Johnson has ties to.

Earlier this year Johnson stood next to one of the most extreme anti-LGBTQ Christian right activists, Tony Perkins, head of the Family Research Council – also an SPLC-designated anti-LGBTQ hate group.

And last year Johnson received an award from Ralph Reed’s far Christian right Faith and Freedom Coalition.

But most importantly to Trump and his MAGA base, on January 6, 2021, Johnson voted to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election that Trump lost. He also signed onto an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the results of the election in four critical states.

“Johnson was deeply involved in efforts to keep Trump in power starting immediately after 2020 election,” writes Robert Costa, CBS News’ Chief Election and Campaign Correspondent. Costa is the co-author, with Bob Woodward, of “Peril,” which focuses on the period from the second Trump campaign to the early days of the Biden White House.

“I know because I spent months reporting on that period and he was part of letters and behind-scenes efforts with key outside groups.” Costa adds, “I’ve talked with key sources from that time about how Johnson — then all but unknown — worked with allied Trump groups and conservative leaders in a coordinated way to make sure that whole orbit was working together to help Trump.”

Not only did Rep. Johnson work behind the scenes and vote against certifying the election, he hand-delivered a reason – one legal experts tore down – that Republicans could use to oppose certification of the election on January 6.

“In the days leading up to January 6, 2021, many House Republicans were groping for a way to back Trump without supporting his bogus claims of election fraud,” Washington Monthly reported last year, adding that “a low-profile Louisiana Republican, Representative Mike Johnson, provided them with a solution: insist that the expansion of vote by mail in key states had not been approved by their legislatures and was therefore unconstitutional. Legal experts, including the House GOP leadership’s own lawyer, determined that Johnson’s argument was spurious. Yet about three-quarters of the 139 House Republicans who voted against certifying the election relied on his claim.”

READ MORE: Texas Judge Fighting for ‘Right’ to Not Marry Gay Couples Cites ‘The Scriptures’

Former U.S. Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-VA) on Wednesday issued a warning on Johnson, pointing to this video from Tuesday night, and calling Johnson’s “support to overturn the 2020 election … both disqualifying and wrong.”

But even earlier than the 2020 attempts to overturn the election, Congressman Johnson was a strong Trump ally, not just in word but in deed. A constitutional attorney, Johnson served on both teams defending Trump against both his first and second impeachment, leading to his rise among House GOP leadership. Johnson now serves the Vice Chair of the Republican conference.

“So imagine that Mike Johnson becomes House Speaker,” Historian Michael Beschloss asks, “Trump loses the 2024 Presidential election and he claims he won, there’s an insurrection and then there are demands to certify Trump’s ‘victory’ anyway. What would Mike Johnson do?”

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‘Absolute Nonsense’: Bondi Blasted for Saying Judge Has ‘No Right’ to Question DOJ

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10 hours ago

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March 19, 2025

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U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi is the latest official to expand the Trump administration’s attack on the judicial branch of government, denouncing U.S. Chief District Court Judge James Boasberg, who is questioning their use of an 18th century wartime-only law and attempting to determine whether or not the administration violated his Saturday order to redirect planes sending detainees to an El Salvador “slave jail.”

Bondi appeared on Fox News on Wednesday afternoon (video below) to discuss the questions Judge Boasberg has asked the Trump administration to answer, after it had refused to order the planes to return, saying the aircraft were over international waters and therefore he had no lawful authority to make the order.

Bondi appeared on Fox News Wednesday afternoon (video below) to discuss the questions Judge Boasberg has posed to the Trump administration, which had declined to order the planes’ to turn around, arguing that once they were over international waters, Boasberg lacked the legal authority to order their return.

When asked how the Department of Justice will respond, Bondi lashed out.

“Well, well, our our our lawyers are working on this, we will answer appropriately, but what I will tell you is this judge has no right to ask those questions,” the Attorney General declared. “You have one unelected federal judge trying to control foreign policies, trying to control the Alien Enemies Act, which they have no business presiding over and there are 261 reasons why Americans are safer now. Because those people are out of this country.”

READ MORE: White House Press Secretary Schooled on ‘Democrat Activist’ Judge Trump Wants Impeached

She continued: “The judge had no business, no power to do what he did.”

Bondi also blasted the judge for recognizing that time was a critical factor in this matter.

Judge Boasberg “came in on an emergency basis on a Saturday with very, very short notice at any, to our attorney to run in the courtroom, you know, and this has been a pattern with these liberal judges you just spoke about that. It’s been a pattern with what they’ve been doing. This judge had no right to do that,” Bondi claimed, wrongly identified tidying Boasberg as a “liberal judge.”

“They’re meddling in foreign affairs, they’re meddling in our government, and the question should be, why is the judge trying to protect terrorists who have invaded our country over American citizens?” she asked.

Questions have been raised about why none of the 261 deportees have been publicly identified, why most were not criminally charged, and why none appeared before a federal judge before being sent to a brutal mega-prison in El Salvador—a country to which few, if any, have ties.

READ MORE: ‘Delusional’ Schumer Spirals in ‘Devastating’ New Interview as Leadership Crisis Deepens

“You know, TdA is a terrorist organization,” Bondi said, referring to Tren de Aragua, “they are organized, that they have a government structure within them. They are sending money not only throughout this country to each other, but back to Venezuela, they are a terrorist organization and we are not going to have that in our country.”

Attorney and immigration expert Aaron Reichlin-Melnick blasted Bondi.

“This is such absolute nonsense because the judge isn’t trying to control anything about foreign policies, he’s trying to figure out if his court order was violated,” Reichlin-Melnick remarked. “Bondi simply is refusing to engage with the reality of what is happening in the court case.”

The Guardian’s Hugo Lowell posted an excerpt from Judge Boasberg’s order: “The Court seeks this information, not as a ‘micromanaged and unnecessary judicial fishing expedition’, but to determine if the govt deliberately flouted its Orders issued on March 15, 2025, and, if so, what the consequences should be.”

With the video below or at this link.

RELATED: Trump Pushes to Impeach ‘Radical Left Lunatic’ Judge in Unhinged Morning Rant

 

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White House Press Secretary Schooled on ‘Democrat Activist’ Judge Trump Wants Impeached

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13 hours ago

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March 19, 2025

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White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt continued the administration’s attack on James Boasberg, the Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, even after Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts strongly criticized President Donald Trump for his call to impeach the jurist.

NBC News’ Garrett Haake asked Leavitt if it is “a good use of Congress’s time and the president’s political capital to try to impeach and remove a federal judge, which would take 67 votes, you’re unlikely to get in the Senate?”

“Well, look,” she replied, “the president has made it clear that he believes this judge in this case should be impeached, and he has also made it clear that he has great respect for the Chief Justice, John Roberts.”

READ MORE: ‘Delusional’ Schumer Spirals in ‘Devastating’ New Interview as Leadership Crisis Deepens

Leavitt wrongly insisted that it is “incumbent upon the Supreme Court to rein in these activist judges. These partisan activists are undermining the judicial branch by doing so. We have co-equal branches of government for a reason and the president feels very strongly about that.”

Aside from the Supreme Court choosing to take a case and overrule a lower court judge, it has no authority to “rein in” district court judges whose rulings it does not like. The Supreme Court has no disciplinary authority to punish judges who have lifetime appointments to the federal bench.

When she was asked how the president decides who is a “bad” judge, is it “just someone who disagrees with him?” Leavitt replied, “No, it has nothing to do with disagreeing with the president on policy. It’s with disagreeing with the Constitution and the law.”

RELATED: Trump Pushes to Impeach ‘Radical Left Lunatic’ Judge in Unhinged Morning Rant

“And it’s trying to usurp the authority of the executive branch of this country,” she alleged.

Leavitt appears to be referring to what is commonly called “checks and balances,” and “judicial review,” part of the mechanism of the U.S. Constitution.

Leavitt also attacked Chief Judge Boasberg, saying, “this judge, Judge Boasberg is a Democrat activist. He was appointed by Barack Obama, his wife has donated more than $10,000 to Democrats, and he has consistently shown his disdain for this president and his policies and it’s unacceptable.”

That’s when Haake interjected.

Boasberg “was originally appointed by George W. Bush,” a Republican president, Haake informed her, “and then elevated by Barack Obama. It just feels like I should clear that up,” he noted.

Attorney Aaron Parnas blasted the Press Secretary:

“Karoline Leavitt is trying to gaslight the American public. Judge Boasberg was appointed by George W. Bush in 2002. He was elevated by President Obama in 2011 and was confirmed 96-0, with every Republican supporting his elevation to the federal bench.”

Chief Justice Roberts also appointed Judge Boasberg to the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) where he served as presiding judge, and appointed him to the U.S. Alien Terrorist Removal Court as a chief judge.

Watch the videos above or at this link.

READ MORE: Chief Justice Smacks Down Trump

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‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’: GOP Senator Furious Over Judge’s USAID Ruling

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1 day ago

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March 18, 2025

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A federal judge aimed sharp criticism at the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and its de facto leader, Elon Musk, as he ruled on Tuesday afternoon that its shutdown of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), “likely violated the United States Constitution in multiple ways.”

U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang’s ruling, however, Politico reported, “appears to permit the Trump administration to ratify and maintain the draconian cuts — as long as they are ordered by USAID’s official leadership, rather than by Musk or his allies at DOGE.”

Judge Chuang blocked DOGE “from further cuts to the agency,” the Associated Press reported. He also ordered that “email and computer access” be restored “to all employees of USAID, including those who were placed on administrative leave.”

In his damning 68-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang wrote that “the ‘Department of
Government Efficiency,’ or ‘DOGE,’ has sent teams of personnel to numerous federal departments and agencies, taken control of their computer systems, and in many instances, taken the lead in terminating numerous contracts and employees.”

READ MORE: Chief Justice Smacks Down Trump

He charged that “DOGE and its leader, Elon Musk,” have “played a leading role in actions taken to shut down and dismantle” USAID, “which have included permanently closing its headquarters, taking down its website, and engaging in mass terminations of contracts, grants, and personnel.”

Noting that President Trump himself “has identified” Elon Musk as “the leader of DOGE,” Judge Chuang wrote that DOGE “has taken numerous actions without any apparent advanced approval by agency leadership.”

Judge Chuang ruled that Elon Musk’s and DOGE’s “actions taken to shut down USAID on an accelerated basis, including its apparent decision to permanently close USAID headquarters without the approval of a duly appointed USAID Officer, likely violated the United States Constitution in multiple ways, and that these actions harmed not only Plaintiffs, but also the public interest, because they deprived the public’s elected representatives in Congress of their constitutional authority to decide whether, when, and how to close down an agency created by Congress.”

U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) blasted Judge Chuang.

“This is more of your Trump derangement syndrome. This is more of these activist judges,” Senator Blackburn declared. “So here you have a judge who is standing up for wasting taxpayer money. It is not the judge’s money, it is not the court’s money. This is money that hardworking taxpayers have earned and sent to Washington, DC.”

“And if they’re going to decide, they don’t want to pay for Sesame Street in Iraq, or DEI education in another country, or trans surgeries in another country,” she claimed.

READ MORE: Trump Border Czar ‘Doesn’t Care’ About Judges — One Might Make Administration Think Twice

On Saturday, The New York Times in an extensive, interactive report revealed, “An estimated 1,650,000 people could die within a year without American foreign aid for H.I.V. prevention and treatment.”

“An estimated 500,000 people could die within a year without American funding for vaccines,” the report added. ” An estimated 550,000 people could die within a year without American funding for food aid.”

Also, nearly 300,00 could die from Malaria, 310,000 from tuberculosis, the Times reported.

The World Health Organization (WHO has estimated that the USAID shutdown, as THEM reported, “could cause as many as 10 million additional HIV cases and three million HIV-related deaths.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Welcome to Autocracy’: Trump Declaring Biden’s Pardons ‘Void’ Debunked and Denounced

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