The unlikely scenario has come true: A stranger to the American public has become the speaker of the House of Representatives. On Wednesday, October 25, at the end of three weeks of staggering crisis within the Republican Party, Mike Johnson of Louisiana, 51, managed to unite the votes of his camp. It was a challenge in a highly toxic atmosphere and a testament to the chaotic evolution of the Grand Old Party.
An evangelical Christian, a lawyer by training and a hardened conservative, Johnson 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 that had spread among his colleagues. His was a victory by attrition, which in no way alleviated the identity and ethical crisis of the Republican Party.
In his first speech from the rostrum, Johnson appeared very much at ease, managing to give pledges to everyone without any confrontational passages. He promised to seek bipartisan convergence but also to exercise a "decentralized" leadership of the House. Above all, he presented himself to the American people.
The representative for Louisiana saluted his wife Kelly, who hadn't had time to buy a plane ticket for this big day – "this happened sort of suddenly" – and evoked his father, a firefighter who died just before his son entered Congress in 2017. The new speaker talked about God, the Bible, trust and transparency and conservative values, without ever going into detail about his intentions. He contented himself with announcing a bipartisan commission on US debt and a first text of support for Israel, following Hamas's attack.
Behind his friendly smile and mannered demeanor, Johnson represents the most religious wing of the party. Staunchly opposed to abortion and gay marriage, he and his wife host a podcast on faith in politics. A climate skeptic, supported by the oil industry and in favor of a drastic overhaul of Medicare, Johnson has deeply conservative convictions.
But the most problematic aspect of his commitment is his membership to the "deniers" clan, those who refused to recognize the result of the 2020 presidential election. After his election by the House Republicans, facing the media and surrounded by numerous representatives, he answered "next question" when a journalist asked him about his role in contesting the election. At his side, some Republicans booed the journalist. Virginia Foxx, president of the Committee on Education, shouted, "Shut up!"
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