antagonizing antics

Mike Johnson’s attempts to save his job are growing more desperate… & more embarrassing

By · Updated on April 26, 2024

Mike Johnson is making enemies everywhere he goes!

The embattled House Speaker is desperate to repair his relationship with far-right Republicans, who are enraged about his support for Ukrainian aid and efforts to keep the government open.

Meanwhile, Democrats and progressives loathe him, because he stands against everything they champion.

In a dire attempt to save face, Johnson visited Columbia University Wednesday and antagonized protesting college students. Pro-Palestinian protests have been occurring at campuses across the country, and Republicans are calling for a heavy-handed response. Police have broken up protests in nearly every major city, including Los Angeles, Austin, Atlanta and Boston. Law enforcement arrested 100 protesters on Columbia’s campus last week.

Johnson called for more militaristic intervention Wednesday, demanding Joe Biden send in the National Guard. Flanked by Rep. Virginia Foxx (the antigay chairperson of the Education Committee) and an array of New York Republicans, Johnson said the protesters were breaking the law.

“This is dangerous. This is not the First Amendment, this is not free expression,” he said. “If this is not contained quickly and if these threats and intimidation are not stopped, there is an appropriate time for the National Guard.”

His incendiary words sparked a predictably charged response from the crowd, which called him a “piece of sh*t,” among other epithets.

Johnson was booed from the minute he walked up to the podium, admonishing the students to “stop the nonsense and go back to class.”

The White House rejected Johnson’s request on Thursday for the National Guard, but that likely won’t stop Republicans from pressing the issue. That’s right: those who cheered on violent insurrectionists on January 6 want to clamp down on protesting college students.

Perhaps nobody is a bigger hypocrite than Josh Hawley, who simultaneously supported the January 6 rioters and ran away from them. He’s also calling for Joe Biden to deploy the National Guard at college campuses.

Yesterday’s publicity stunt isn’t the first time Johnson has ratcheted up his rhetoric to try and soothe the extreme wing of his party. Earlier this month, he called it “obnoxious and abhorrent” for Joe Biden to recognize Transgender Day of Visibility.

At the time, Marjorie Taylor Greene was threatening to oust him from his post.

Related:

Mike Johnson is so doomed, even his most extreme & abhorrent rhetoric can’t save him with the GOP

The House Speaker is the most unpopular man in Washington.

Unsurprisingly, Johnson’s verbal pandering didn’t work. He may have sealed his fate last Saturday, when Congress approved a $95 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and other U.S. allies. While the bill passed with bipartisan support–311 to 112 in favor–the majority of Republicans voted against it.

“He is absolutely working for the Democrats. He’s passing the Biden administration’s agenda,” said MTG on Fox News. “Mike Johnson’s speakership is over. He needs to do the right thing to resign and allow us to move forward in a controlled process.

“If he doesn’t do so, he will be vacated.”

It’s amazing that House Republicans are turning against Johnson, considering he’s the most anti-LGBTQ+ speaker in recent history.

As a congressman, he championed a national version of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law, and said the “Democrat Party and their cultural allies are on a misguided crusade to immerse young children in sexual imagery and radical gender ideology.”

Back in the mid-2000s, Johnson argued that gay marriage “is the dark harbinger of chaos and sexual anarchy that could doom even the strongest republic.”

Even as Speaker, he’s resorted to bashing LGBTQ+ folx, including children. He sent out a fundraising email last year denouncing out high school students.

Unsurprisingly, Johnson’s atavistic views extend to women and reproductive freedom. The religious zealot is opposed to abortion in every scenario, likening the procedure to an “American Holocaust.”

But as Speaker, Johnson must balance multiple interests. For example: he campaigned this week with Rep. Tony Gonzales, a moderate Republican from Texas who’s facing one of the toughest primary challenges in the country. His race with Brandon Herrera, a far-right activist who posts videos with Nazi imagery, is heading to a run-off.

Clearly frustrated, Gonzales gave a blistering interview Sunday to CNN, in which he ripped into Matt Gaetz and other far-right trolls.

“I serve with some real scumbags,” he said. “Look, Matt Gaetz, he paid minors to have sex with him at drug parties. Bob Good endorsed my opponent, a known neo-Nazi. These people used to walk around with white hoods at night, now they are walking around with white hoods in the daytime.” 

Whew! Speak your truth, Rep. Gonzales!

Previously, Johnson aligned himself with the Matt Gaetz and Bob Good wing of the GOP. Now, the Louisiana Republican is campaigning with a man who hates them.

Gaetz, who led the charge to replace Kevin McCarthy, called Gonzales “Turncoat Tony.”

Chip Roy, chairman of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus, lambasted Johnson for his appearance. “To have the speaker be in San Antonio campaigning for Tony … I’m just beside myself that that’s where things are,” he said.

That definitely sounds like an unhappy bunch! Johnson’s speakership seems doomed, in spite of his most odious efforts to save it.

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