The improbable scenario came true: an unknown person to the general American public became the speaker of the House of Representatives. Wednesday October 25, at the end of three weeks of staggering crisis within the Republican Party, Mike Johnson, 51, elected from Louisiana, managed to bring together all the votes from his camp. A challenge in a highly toxic atmosphere, and a testimony to the chaotic evolution of the Grand Old Party.
Evangelical Christian, lawyer by training, hardened conservative: Mike Johnson has demonstrated a certain political skill in overcoming internal divisions and not making his radical commitments a fatal obstacle. But above all he took advantage of the immense weariness which had overtaken his colleagues. This is therefore a victory through attrition, necessarily by default, which in no way curbs the identity and ethical crisis of the Republican Party.
During his first speech at the roost, Mike Johnson appeared very comfortable, managing to give assurances to everyone, without any confrontational passages. He promised to seek bipartisan convergence, but also to exercise a presidency “decentralized” from the room. He mainly introduced himself to Americans.
The Louisiana elected official greeted his wife Kelly, who did not have time to buy a plane ticket for this big day – “it all happened a bit suddenly” – and spoke of his father, a firefighter who died just before entering Congress in 2017. The new speaker spoke a lot about God, the Bible, trust and transparency, conservative values, without ever going into the detail of his intentions. He simply announced a bipartisan commission on the debt and an initial text of support for Israel, struck by Hamas.
Opposed to abortion, gay marriage, climate skeptic…
Behind his kind smiles and wise demeanor, Mike Johnson represents the most religious wing of the party. Fiercely opposed to abortion and gay marriage, he hosts a podcast with his wife on faith in politics. Climate skeptic, supported by the oil industry, supporter of a drastic revision of health insurance, Mike Johnson has very conservative beliefs.
But the most problematic aspect of his commitment is his belonging to the clan of “deniers”, those who refused to recognize the result of the presidential election in 2020. A scene bore witness to this on Tuesday evening, after its nomination by the Republican group. Surrounded by numerous elected officials in front of the press, he responded ” next question “ when a journalist questioned him about his role in contesting the vote. At her side, some Republicans booed the journalist. ” The farm ! »even launched Virginia Foxx, president of the education commission.
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