Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, under threat of ouster from U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), will hold a joint press conference with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago on “election integrity,” in an apparent effort to send a message to his base that he has the support of the four-times indicted ex-president.
Both Trump and Johnson are election deniers.
Pointing to Greene’s threat to oust Johnson, CNN’s Kristen Holmes and Melanie Zanona first reported the plans which they call, “still fluid, but comes as Johnson is facing a threat to his speakership from MTG.” MSNBC later confirmed the event, slated for Friday.
There are few credible claims of election fraud in the U.S., certainly none that would have altered the outcome of any election in modern times (with the possible exception of some local elections,) including the 2020 presidential election, according to numerous studies, reports, experts, and Trump’s own Attorney General.
Both Donald Trump and Speaker Johnson are responsible for leading efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Trump is now facing federal criminal charges for his alleged role in the January 6 insurrection and other attempts to interfere in the election, and he is also facing state criminal RICO charges over his alleged efforts to overturn the results.
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“Mike Johnson Is Now the Most Powerful Election Denier in Washington,” was the headline at the Brennan Center for Justice after the backbench Louisiana Republican was elevated to Speaker of the House last year.
“Johnson led over 100 GOP lawmakers in backing a lawsuit challenging the results,” ABC News reported last year when he won the Speaker’s race.
“House Republicans unanimously chose him … despite his record as an election denier, something some GOP lawmakers previously had said would be disqualifying,” ABC added. “Back in 2020, Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, had argued Biden’s win was bogus because some states officials had changed voting procedures during the coronavirus pandemic without legislatures’ approval.”
HuffPost last year also reported that Johnson had “played a key role in crafting the rationale that many of his GOP colleagues used in justifying their votes to throw out the 2020 election results ― even just hours after the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.”
Critics blasted the move to hold a joint press conference.
“Johnson’s obvious move as he tries to navigate his increasingly precarious existence is to seek help from Trump,” commented Aaron Fritschner, the Deputy Chief of Staff to U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA). “If Trump told the Speaker he could only share a stage with him if he showed up wearing the Bluth Banana Stand costume I’m pretty sure Johnson would do it.”
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