Speaker Mike Johnson Gets Closer to Trump

LISA MASCARO AP Congressional Correspondent

HOLLAND, Ohio (AP) — House Speaker Mike Johnson goes Donald Trumplooks like it’s not far off.

At a campaign stop House Republican candidate outside Toledo, Johnson picked up his cell phone, as he had done a dozen times before, and began filming: “Hello, Mr. President!” The crowd at the county GOP headquarters of a couple hundred people knew what to do next.

“Is President Trump going to win Ohio?” They roared.

While Johnson travels the country trying to save his House Republican majority and his own work as speaker, he is increasingly aligned with Trump, a once-uncertain relationship that is now increasingly beneficial for both.

Speaker relies on former president for political survival in a chaotic housebut also to present himself as a Trump partner, ready to potentially challenge the election resultsand, if Trump retakes the White House, introduce the MAGA agenda to Congress. Trump said over the weekend that they had a “little secret” to victory, and Johnson, who supported the lawsuit did not contradict him in the 2020 election, which Trump lost.

With the presidency and control of Congress at stake, Johnson, who has largely become the accidental Speaker of the House of Representatives after Kevin McCarthy was ousted in a historic far-right uprising, is uniquely positioned to play a central role in both outcomes.

“We’ve been working all along on the assumption that we have to make it ‘too big to fail’ — and that’s not just a slogan,” Johnson told The Associated Press between campaign stops in Ohio over the weekend.

If Trump wins, as Johnson expects, “all of this will be an afterthought.”

What if not?

“We’ll figure it out. We will follow to the end.”

It’s a remarkable journey for Johnson, 52, a religious rights lawyer from Louisiana who was first elected with Trump in 2016 and is now second in line to the presidency. He celebrated his first year on the job last week before arriving in the Buckeye State, among the 230 cities in 40 states he has visited since picking up the gavel.

Trump “is the head coach” and “I’ll be the quarterback,” Johnson said, and together they are preparing to run the game on an “ambitious” basis. 100 day agenda with Republican senators – cutting taxes, securing US borders and throwing a torch at federal regulations – if they sweep away the White House and Congress.

Although Johnson did not address Heritage Project 2025He described a detailed proposal to pull federal agencies out of Washington and reshuffle the federal workforce, pointing to the America First Policy Institute and other think tanks with their databases of potential new hires.

“We can take over the federal government,” Johnson said in Akron.

Johnson said he and Trump discuss these plans all the time.

“He’s thinking seriously about his legacy,” Johnson said. “He’s thinking seriously about what we can do.”

When health care came up in Pennsylvania a few days later, the speaker said, “No to Obamacare,” although he later clarified that he was not promising to do away with the Affordable Care Act, saying it was “deeply ingrained” in the health care system.

Trump played a major role in ending Johnson’s campaign, even in his absence.

At a Saturday night event for Republican Derek Merrin, who is challenging the longtime Democratic incumbent. Marcy KapturJohnson said the district Trump carried in the last election presents an opportunity as they work to maintain — or grow — the small majority the GOP has in the House.

Standing under the fluorescent lights at the Lucas County GOP office, Johnson shared the story of telling Trump what a great candidate Merryn would be — “right out of central casting,” he joked, imitating the former president. – to the delight of the crowd.

Calling himself a “wartime spokesman” on issues at home and abroad, Johnson portrays himself as cheerful and humble, even as he portrays the election in the harshest of terms.

“We’re not in a battle anymore, it’s just between R and D, it’s deeper. We are now fighting between two completely different views,” he said.

“What we are preserving is, first and foremost, the Judeo-Christian foundations of our country,” he said to applause.

“Amen!” someone shouted from the crowd.

He was later asked about the role his faith plays in leading in times of crisis. rise of Christian nationalismhe brushed off the scrutiny as a sad thing and said it was no different from what the founders envisioned for the country’s leaders.

“I think it’s nice to know,” he said, that leaders “believe that they are answering to a higher power and not just to our civil institutions, right?”

The next morning, Sunday, Johnson found himself not at the brewery, but the day’s tailgate had to be moved so he could get to New York in time to speak at a Trump rally at Madison Square Garden.

The coffee, not the brew, was flowing as it stymied Republican candidate Kevin Coughlin, who is trying to unseat Democratic Rep. Amelia Sykes in the Akron area. Replenishing the GOP ranks would give Johnson some relief from the troubled House of Representatives, with its small and difficult-to-manage majority.

Johnson, who is not a big man, joked that he used to be four inches taller, but “the job threw me off.”

It is likely, but not entirely certain, that Johnson will have enough support within his ranks to retain his position if House Republicans retain their majority. There are dissenters, especially on the far right.

But in the end, Trump may have the last word.

Originally published: October 31, 2024 12:47 pm EST