A Real Fright. On Halloween Eve, host Steve Williamson and contributor Gary LaMaster discuss the scariest development in Washington DC this year – the selection of MAGA Mike Johnson as the 56th Speaker of the US House of Representatives.
In short, this relatively unknown backbencher was personally chosen by the twice-impeached, insurrection-leading, state and federally indicted, convicted sexual assaulter: Donald J. Trump.
So, who is MAGA Mike?
He served as a member of Trump’s legal defense team during Trump’s two Senate impeachment trials, and he was an architect of the legal challenges to the results of the 2020 election. Even more worrying, he’s an ultraconservative evangelical Southern Baptist who says his religion guides his political views.
For instance, Johnson doesn’t believe in evolution or separation of church and state. He likens homosexuality to bestiality. He is vehemently opposed to abortion having stated in a House hearing that if women were forced to have more children, i.e., future “able-bodied workers” we could solve our labor shortage.
Johnson has consistently voted against any measures intended to mitigate climate change, while accepting large campaign donations from the gas and oil industry. He also received illegal donations from a company controlled by Russian oligarchs. (Perhaps that’s why he opposes more aid to Ukraine.)
And he has called cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid his number one priority.