Newsmax Host {incredulous tone}: “If this doesn’t pass in the House today, that’s an embarrassment, Mr. Speaker.”
Nearly a year after Speaker Mike Johnson proclaimed “I hate CRs as much as everyone does…We’re not doing this under my leadership,” he’s making the rounds on television as he desperately tries to get his GOP caucus in line to support a continuing resolution. Part of his struggles to get bipartisan support is due to a poison pill he added that would ban non-citizens from voting in federal elections, something that, by his own admission, is already illegal. Johnson previously said, “We all know, intuitively, that a lot of illegals are voting in federal elections. But it’s not been something that is easily provable. We don’t have that number.”
“Speaker Mike Johnson is risking a government shutdown over something he has already admitted is illegal — it doesn’t get more stupid than that,” said American Bridge spokesperson Philip Shulman. “Instead of doing Trump’s bidding, Speaker Johnson should focus on doing what’s best for the American people — passing a clean funding bill with no bullshit attached.”
But it seems the show hosts are buying his arguments as much as his GOP caucus is supporting the CR. On Fox News, Johnson pushed back on the notion that he would need a “plan-b,” while he desperately told CNBC, seemingly not even believing his own words, that “we’re going to get the job done. We always do [they don’t]. And we haven’t let anybody down yet.”
Worst of all was Johnson’s interview on the right-wing station Newsmax, who weren’t buying his claims that his bill was going to pass today. One host stated, “If this doesn’t pass in the House today, that’s an embarrassment, Mr. Speaker.” The host then went on to quote Mitch McConnell, who said if Johnson can’t get this done, the GOP would be blamed for a government shut down.
For someone who previously said the threat of a shutdown “affects real people in real ways…and I think we need to act like adults and get this thing done,” and that “we’ve got to prevent that [a shutdown] because that would do even more harm for the economy,” Johnson is still doing Donald Trump’s bidding in attaching a poison pill to the CR that makes it a non-starter for real bipartisan support.
What Johnson previously said about government shutdowns:
- “We have a shutdown looming and we’ve got to prevent that because that would do even more harm for the economy.”
- “It affects real people in real ways. And we owe it to the American people, federal workers and everyone else to fix this problem. I think the people demand it and expect it of us. And I think we need to act like adults and get this thing done.”
- “It is a matter of national security at this point, and we simply can’t play games with our defense initiative. So I hope it’ll end soon.”
Published: Sep 18, 2024 | Last Modified: Oct 2, 2024