House Speaker Mike Johnson has endorsed Donald Trump for president, a move that was a symbolic departure from his ousted predecessor leading the House
NEW YORK (AP) — House Speaker Mike Johnson endorsed Donald Trump for president on Tuesday, a move that was a symbolic departure from his ousted predecessor leading the House.
Johnson, an ally and defender of the former president, said in an interview on CNBC Tuesday morning, “I have endorsed him wholeheartedly."
Sponsored
He added a bit later: “I’m all in for President Trump.”
Trump has celebrated Johnson's ascension to speaker, calling him “MAGA Mike Johnson.”
Johnson’s comments came hours after The New York Times reported on an August 2015 Facebook post Johnson made before he was elected to Congress in which he criticized Trump, then the Republican nominee, saying “he lacks the character and the moral center we desperately need again in the White House.”
In a response to someone commenting on the post, the newspaper reported that Johnson said: “I am afraid he would break more things than he fixes. He is a hot head by nature, and that is a dangerous trait to have in a Commander in Chief.”
Johnson, a social conservative, later became a steadfast defender of Trump, notably during his first impeachment in 2019 and through the 2020 election, echoing some of Trump’s conspiracy theories about his loss to Joe Biden in the presidential election and filing a brief in a lawsuit that sought to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential election win.
Johnson’s endorsement only firms up what is increasingly politically clear — that Trump is the Republican party’s front-runner heading toward 2024 and few GOP leaders are willing or able to stand in his way.
The speaker’s backing of Trump charts the course for other House Republicans and leaves those GOP lawmakers who prefer an alternative candidate increasingly isolated in their party, with few options.
While some more centrist conservative Republicans may not want to support Trump, particularly in congressional districts Biden won last time, they have few avenues in the Republican Party to muscle a different outcome in the presidential nominating contest.
Associated Press writer Lisa Mascaro in Washington contributed to this report.
Sponsored
