The unlikely scenario came true: a person unknown to the American public became Speaker of the House of Representatives. On Wednesday, October 25, at the end of a three-week serious crisis within the Republican Party, Louisiana-elect Mike Johnson, 51, managed to bring together all the votes of his camp. A challenge in a highly toxic atmosphere and a testament to the chaotic evolution of the Grand Old Party.
Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers In the United States, divisions in the Republican Party are leading to historic paralysis in Congress
Evangelical Christian, trained lawyer, die-hard conservative: Mike Johnson has shown a certain political skill in overcoming internal divisions and not letting his radical beliefs become a fatal obstacle. Above all, he took advantage of the great fatigue that had gripped his colleagues. So it’s inevitably a victory of attrition that in no way alleviates the Republican Party’s crisis of identity and ethics.
During his first speech on site, Mike Johnson seemed very relaxed and managed to give everyone reassurances without any confrontational passages. He promised to pursue bipartisan convergence but also to exercise a “decentralized” presidency of the House of Representatives. He introduced himself mainly to Americans.
The elected official from Louisiana greeted his wife Kelly, who didn’t have time to buy a plane ticket for the big day – “everything happened a little suddenly” – and spoke of his father, a firefighter who died shortly before he entered Congress in 2017. The The new speaker talked a lot about God, the Bible, trust and transparency, conservative values, without ever going into detail about his intentions. He simply announced a cross-party debt commission and an initial support text for Israel, which was rejected by Hamas.
Also read: USA: The threat of the party of disorder
Opponents of abortion, gay marriage, climate skeptics…
Behind his friendly smile and wise demeanor, Mike Johnson represents the most religious wing of the party. He is a staunch opponent of abortion and gay marriage and hosts a podcast with his wife about faith in politics. Mike Johnson is a climate skeptic who is backed by the oil industry and advocates for drastic health insurance reform. He has very conservative views.
But the most problematic aspect of his activism is his membership in the clan of “deniers,” those who refused to accept the results of the 2020 presidential election. A scene on Tuesday evening, after his nomination by the Republican group, bore witness to this. Surrounded by numerous elected officials in front of the press, he answered the “next question” when a journalist asked him about his role in challenging the election. At her side, some Republicans booed the journalist. “The farm!” even said Virginia Foxx, President of the Education Commission.
You still have 64.42% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.