New speaker Mike Johnson and his wife, Kelly, gave a joint interview to Fox News over the weekend. They spoke to Kayleigh McEnany about how Johnson’s meteoric rise to Speaker of the House has impacted his family.
McEnany asked how they were handling the increased media attention on their lives and beliefs, particularly when it focuses on Kelly Johnson.
Mike Johnson said he is fair game. However, smiling politely, he said his wife should be out of bounds.
“As a husband, you know, I’ll take any arrows, that’s fine. But don’t talk about my wife, for goodness’ sake. She’s the kindest, sweetest person in the world.”
Onward Christian Counseling
The couple have long been active within the Louisiana Southern Baptist community. Mike Johnson has previously worked as an attorney for Christian organizations battling against LGBTQ+ rights. Kelly Johnson is a former teacher turned Christian counselor.
Last week, the website for her ‘Onward Christian Counseling Services’ was taken down. It came after HuffPost reported it contained a link to the service’s 2017 operating agreement. This made it clear the founder believes sex is offensive if outside of a marriage between a man and woman. It offered “homosexuality, bisexual conduct, bestiality, incest” as examples of sins offensive to God.
Onward offers a form of “Temperament counseling”. Loosely based on the teachings of the Greek physician Hippocrates, it splits people into the categories: Melancholy, Choleric, Sanguine, Supine, and Phlegmatic.
Speaking about her husband’s new role as speaker, Kelly Johnson told McEnany that she believed “God has placed him here. It’s Biblical. The Bible says he raises up leaders and he brings them down.”
Mike Johnson’s wife Kelly just responded after it was revealed her “Christian Counseling Services” compare gay people to bestiality and say sex out of wedlock “offends God.”
— No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen (@NoLieWithBTC) November 3, 2023
She said she “felt burdened for so many people” & says “God” made Mike Johnson Speaker. “It’s Biblical.” pic.twitter.com/Ar00R7F50R
Asked how her kids are dealing with their dad’s heightened profile, Kelly said, “They’re doing pretty well. I think they’re also still in shock ‘cause it’s still so new, but they’re proud of their dad and they’re excited.”
Fall of the Roman Empire
Johnson’s kids may have to quickly adapt to the increased media attention. Rolling Stone reports that in a public appearance last year, Mike Johnson revealed he and his 17-year-old son are each other’s “Accountability Partners”. This entails downloading software to their phones so that each can check what the other has been looking at or doing online.
Other resurfaced clips of Johnson continue to emerge. In a radio interview in 2008, Johnson said a rise in homosexual behavior was partly to blame for the fall of the Roman Empire.
“Some credit to the fall of Rome to not only the deprivation of the society and the loss of morals, but also to the rampant homosexual behavior that was condoned by the society,” Johnson said.
The claim left at least one gay, Democratic lawmaker stunned.
The new Republican House Speaker, Mike Johnson, once said that the Roman Empire collapsed because it condoned “rampant homosexual behavior.”
— Ritchie Torres (@RitchieTorres) November 5, 2023
His sense of history is as horrendous as his homophobia.
It’s not just Democrats that have concerns about Speaker Johnson’s views. The Hill reports that some GOP Senators have concerns about Johnson launching a legislative, federal attack on abortion ahead of the 2024 election. They believe that the backlash to the Supreme Court revoking Roe vs. Wade, and the hardline anti-abortion stance of some Republicans, cost them votes in 2022.
“I’m still trying to figure out what his real priorities are,”” Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) told The Hill.
“Based on some of the conversations we’ve had in our conference, there’s been a lot of discussion about the political implications of a vote on abortion that would basically federalize, outlaw abortions. It would be viewed as not politically helpful.”
Related*
Mike Johnson’s wife frantically tries to scrub her anti-gay past — but the internet remembers forever
Kelly Johnson offered faith-based Christian counseling to “melancholic” and “choleric” clients.
Mike Johnson defends anti-gay past, but claims he now loves us despite our “lifestyle choices”
Johnson has previously heaped praise on a creationist theme park based on Noah’s Ark.
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Matthewnow
Total A-hole. Case closed.
barryaksarben
I doubt the sweetest person in the world would say the nasty shit this bitch has said about us . go F yourself Mike and your wife. IF GOD put Mike in. that office he also put JOE BIDEN IN HIS OFFICE so why do you question GOD’s will ?
abfab
Poor God. Always getting dragged into things where they don’t belong. Go away God! You’re not helping. It’s obvious.
GBinMD
He appears to be a pedophile who “adopted” his black son when he was single and in his 20’s. He and his filthy ignorant wife are religious extremists who have no place in leading anyone anywhere.
abfab
And this young man will continue to be emasculated by both parents. Tracked, tagged, spied upon and scolded.
I’m not sure of the young man’s name but I wonder……did he have a say before the Holy Father trotted him out for all the world to see and gawk at in amazement?
Sans shackles.
Magnus1999
Sorry jacka ss, your wife’s behavior isn’t going to get a pass.
dbmcvey
If you don’t want people talking about your wife, don’t include her in your campaign.
abfab
Or your sacred offsping and the unlucky adopted ones. These are not very smart people. The republicans just keep getting dumber and dumber. All they can do is thank the lord and tell everyone that the end is near.
Den
And they are right, the end is near. At least for American democratic governance if these assholes remain in power. The end for personal freedom, the end for sound environmental policy, the end for women’s and LGBT rights, the end for ethical government….
Man About Town
Gee I wish my dad & I had been “accountability partners,” always inappropriately snooping into each other’s personal business. How twisted can you get?
As for his wife’s categories, I’ll take sanguine; ironically, choleric and phlegmatic are perfect descriptions of her husband.
abfab
The son: a meloncholic, depressed, repressed, brain washed, young Black gentleman.
mnorman
I heard a recording of her talking today and my response was she sounds sort of like ms Chenowith except without KC’s charm I experience waves of scary chills
abfab
”But DON’T talk about my wife, for goodness’ sake.” Then this twit goes ahead and talks about her.
ZzBomb
“God has placed him here. It’s Biblical. The Bible says he raises up leaders and he brings them down.”
People we really need to be paying attention in 2024. You might not be enthralled with Biden, but the alternative is a very scary reality that we sincerely do not want to go down. These people are frothing at the mouth to tear down the constitution and impose their own religious doctrines as law. It’s so sad how many people want to throw away democracy and smile while doing it despite everything it has collectively given us.
abfab
We gotcha ZZ. We’re on board with your plea…………..we, The Choir, will preach it from the rooftops.
barryaksarben
YOU ARE 100% right. Biden was never my pick but I will vote and work to get everyone else to vote for whoever is the dem candidate to keep these bastards out of power. Do not mistake thinking you will vote independent and /or wait for next time because if they get in there will be NO NEXT TIME
Den
Biden, though lacking Trump’s unfortunate appeal to the dumb (I was going to say charisma, but thought better of it) has been a forward thinking and effective executive in many ways. But he seems unwilling to toot his own horn, or be as aggressive as Trump on the campaign trail.
abfab
He has humility. Like the great Jimmy Carter. It’s a whole nother type of man. Like Barack Hussein Obama. These are great thinkers and now our elders.
President Joe Biden is a good man. We know that.
FreddieW
@Queerty
I don’t think your list of temperaments is accurate. “Supine” has never been in any other list I’ve read. There are 4, as I remember them.
abfab
Like that really matters in this case…
FreddieW
Accuracy matters in journalism, even here. I’m not surprised, given your many delusions, that you think it unimportant.
Den
You are correct, there are only four types and supine is not one of them. But abfab is also correct because Queerty is more correctly thought of as a blog and not journalism. And Kelly is clearly a charlatan not fit to counsel anybody with outdated and debunked “personality types. Both she and her husband are creepy as hell and undeniable dangers to democratic governance (well, he is at least: she’s just a danger to good people everywhere).
bachy
“Supine” is defined as “failing to act or protest as a result of moral weakness or indolence.”
FreddieW
@Den
abfab is correct in the same way that Donald Trump is correct. He isn’t. He just says a bunch of s h i t and relies on the consensus of idiots to validate it.
abfab
Hang it up Fred, and finally please would you tamp down that hardon you have for me. Over it.
FreddieW
If you’re shocked at what he said, you’ve never been to church in your life. And no, you’re never going to eliminate or change what these people believe, because you would have to eradicate the Bible to do so.
You can find where he derived that statement about the Roman Empire in the book of Romans, chapter 1. The Bible has contained that passage for 2000 years, almost. So it looks sort of uneducated for a congressman to tweet about it with faux shock, like it’s something just invented.
ZzBomb
“Roman Empire in the book of Romans, chapter 1. The Bible has contained that passage for 2000 years, almost.”
Actually it wasn’t in there for 2000 years. It was a revisionist re-writing nearly 1000 years after the council of Niceae that added it in.
FreddieW
Well, I was never a theological liberal.
Paul wrote it before he was executed. And he was the source of homophobia in the New Testament — a self-loathing homosexual.
You don’t gain anything but an excuse for believing fairy tales by sanitizing the New Testament.
ZzBomb
Tf is a “theological liberal”??? Pairing words together in attempt to sound smart leads the exact opposite conclusion.
Either way, much of what is currently written in the Bible was added much later in history.
abfab
F U C K the Bible. People (the lucky ones) walk away unscathed. Some do not. Like you, Freddy. We’ve all been to one sort of church or another. Stop your bitching and your preaching. The only one who is shocked here is you.
SHOCKED! Oh dear.
Mattster
His comments were indeed ignorant. Scholars believe the book of Romans was written about 40-50 years after the death of Jesus, and not in Rome. Rome fell over 400 years later. A book written hundreds of years earlier is not a reliable document to events hundreds of years later. This is rather like looking for information about the United States in Shakespeare.
Historians of Ancient Rome have shown evidence that as the empire underwent threats of invasion and civil war, “permissiveness”, if you want to call it that, maybe a better word is tolerance, DECLINED. When the empire was rising, as under Augustus, Romans were tolerant of other religions and same-sex acts among males was not considered unusual. (This tolerance extended mostly only to adult males with young people, that did not take a penetrated role, yes the culture was quite misogynistic and in modern parlance, bottom-shaming but that’s beside the point).
Intolerance of sexual/gender minorities and worship of any but Roman deities grew as the empire got weaker. Hence the dwindling empire’s persecution of Christians.
You would think a supposedly deeply Christian person would know at least some of this. For one thing, why exalt an empire as “civilization” when it was persecuting Christians? If homosexuality brought it down, the Christians should be thanking us. You’re welcome!
GBinMD
The Bible is based on ancient Egyptian and other pagan religions. If you have any sense whatsoever you wouldn’t allow a ridiculous book to run your life.
barryaksarben
IT is. historically inaccurate and only an idiot would think it true. With only a simple high school education let alone higher education. you know the romans fell because of Christianity and financial reasons and none had a thing to do with sex of any kind. The greeks started their civilization being fine with homosexuality so was it accepting retros that brog=ught them down? no because it is ridiculous to think sex. brings down a civilization
FreddieW
@abfab
Your poor pea brain has room only for the things you agree with. And even those are slipping away, aren’t they?
Den
In reality, the decline of Rome began after Christianity became the official religion with Constantine in the mid 300’s AD .And the empire is considered to have collapsed by 500 AD. So it is more accurate to say that Christianity and its followers caused the fall of the Roman empire!
FreddieW
Whatever the historical reasons are for Rome’s fall, evangelicals will always point to Romans 1 as the pattern for moral decline in Gentile civilization. Doesn’t matter whether historians agree, and it certainly doesn’t matter that Rome fell centuries after Paul wrote the book of Romans.
That isn’t the point at all.
Christians have believed this forever. (And yes, I know Christians haven’t existed forever, but feel free to post that in response.) The outrage over the fact that this guy is a Christian who believes what Christians believe is ridiculous.
RKP
That woman is married to the thrid most powerful man in our government. She looks like she should be a QVC hostess – but even that may be a stretch for her intellectually.
And, if ever a bigger closet case ever was….I don’t know
abfab
Yeah really…” I will scratch your eyes out if you talk about Saint Kelly again”
barryaksarben
IF GOD puts people in office then he put BIDEN in office so why did mike go against GODS will that time? hypocrites refuse to even see their own hypocrisy
abfab
Be careful===backing these people into a corner like that could result in wars.
Mister P
We should not allow a ridiculous book run our lives nor should we use it to run a modern enlightened society.
abfab
Unless it’s written by Josh Hawley……
ScottOnEarth
I’m so f-ing fed-up with having to hear about crazy religious zealots forcing their bullshit religion on everyone else. If they choose to live their pathetic lives according to an ancient, ridiculous, man-written book, that’s their problem but the fact that they force it down everyone’s throats, particularly in the political arena, is just so tiresome and antithetical to the spirit of this country.
Baron Wiseman
@ScottOnEarth
“When men stop believing in God, they don’t believe in nothing; they believe in anything.” – G.K. Chesterton
Unfortunately, many of those who have stopped believing in the Bible, have not stopped believing in nothing, their belief system has been supplanted by Leftism.
dbmcvey
Quoting someone who wrote cozy mysteries. That should shut everyone up.
barryaksarben
wisemen you are a faking idiot. millions throughout history have never believed a religion of any kind and it means nothing except for to the zealots who want to force others to believe. get lost you loser
Den
“When men stop believing in God, they don’t believe in nothing; they believe in anything.”
The Christian stupidly believes that man is “fallen” and ripe for the influence of their idiotic “god of evil” “satan”. By contrast the secular humanists believe man is intrinsically good and that ethical behavior is the natural state. Leftism is based on an ethical view of society. Your beliefs are not by any stretch of the imagination. Republicans, Libertarians , Dominionists and so on believe in exploitation, cruelty, distaste for this life, worldly/physical pleasure and worse.
When people stop believing in God, they most often begin to believe in the intrinsic value of all people.
abfab
It’s called HUMANISM.
nebskram
if you force yourself in to my bedroom with your god squadding i will do the same to/for you
RoyM
If your despicable wife doesn’t want to be talked about, she should keep her hate-driven, neofascist views to herself. Like all conservatives, these two are just great big walking pieces of feces.
abfab
It’s not going to end well for the evangelicals and the FAIRY tales they cling to. I feel an impending sense of doom…………….every fuc king day!
But the wives. The blonde know-nothings. The empty headed submissive wives. Oh well. She married up.
Mister P
Like we should believe in the god who allows school children to be mowed down even though he has the power to stop it? Or war? Or famine? No thank you. I’ll believe in leftism any day over that viscous bastard.
abfab
Thoughts and prayers thoughts and prayers.
That’s all they got. How are those thoughts and prayers workin’ out fer y’all? Trash.
woodroad34
Mike Johnson is no St. Sebastian…he is a hypocrite (Matthew 23)…he believes in lies and misinformation. Not only that, he’s forcing his religion on everyone else…religion is personal and meant for one’s self. Mike Johnson is described in 2 Corinthians 11:14, which “…tells us that “Satan disguises himself as an angel of light,” and it means that Satan capitalizes on our love of the light in order to deceive”.
Fahd
This religion-obsessed dope and his wifey-poo, disgraces to the nation, reflect what the Republican party is all about. The Democrats need to focus with renewed vigor on retaking the House in the 2024 elections.
Fname Optional Lname
So we are to believe that “God” placed her husband into this position but for some reason Joe Biden was able to sneak into the Presidency by using trickery and “God” was not able to intervene? The Democrats used witchcraft and sorcery apparently and now “God” is going to right that wrong by putting people like Mike Johnson in power? I guess I should not be surprised or shocked. His supporters are the same who pledge loyalty to Donal Trump – America’s biggest embarrassment since Richard Nixon.
barryaksarben
you got one thing not quite right Donald Trump are not only an embarrassment they are idiots in comparison to Nixons criminal supporters
James
Johnson and his UGLY WIFE are both full of shit.
abfab
Full of LARD……….oh sorry, full of LORD. A common mistake.
James
Jesus never knew that ugly hag.
Den
Of course not. He died over 2000 years ago. Hasn’t known anything since!
abfab
It sucks that the calendar has to all wind back to him. He was special, but not THAT special!
2024!………..Thanks for being born, Mr. Christ.
storm45701
“Not talking about a politician’s wife or kids” went out the door when Republicans decided to go after Hillary and Chelsea Clinton. And let’s not forget what they tried to do to Michele Obama and Dr. Jill Biden.
FreddieW
Dr Jill Biden is fair game. She should have worked harder at not inflicting her old husband on the USA. There was a whole slate of better candidates running against him in 2020.
If people will really vote for anyone the DNC puts out there rather than voting for Trump, you can thank Dr Biden in part that we don’t have President Buttigieg or President Klobuchar or President Warren and that we’re facing a Biden-Trump rematch that the polls say Biden will lose.
abfab
Twisted, again. Why do you bother Fred? Are you trying to convince us? If you insist on knocking yourself out with the same old bullshit, be our guest.
Put your energy elsewhere. A site where it may make a difference.
Jim
Actually the decline of the Rome Empire coincided with the decline of homosexual acceptance in the Roman Empire.