memeorandum: 5 things to know about Mike Johnson, the GOP's latest House speaker nominee (Washington Post)

5:25 PM ET, October 25, 2023

Top Items:

CNN:

New speaker of the House Mike Johnson once wrote in support of the criminalization of gay sex — Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has a history of harsh anti-gay language from his time as an attorney for a socially conservative legal group in the mid-2000s.

Discussion: HuffPost, Media Matters for America, New Republic, Iowa Starting Line and Los Angeles Times

Washington Post:

5 things to know about Mike Johnson, the GOP's latest House speaker nominee — Republicans in the House of Representatives picked Rep. Mike Johnson (La.), who serves as vice chairman of the House Republican Conference, as their fourth nominee for the speakership.

Summer Concepcion / NBC News:

GOP speaker nominee Mike Johnson played a key role in efforts to overturn the 2020 election — Johnson, the latest Republican nominee for House speaker, led an amicus brief in support of a Texas lawsuit seeking to overturn Joe Biden's 2020 victory in four battleground states.

Discussion: Media Matters for America, The Hill, Mediaite, Daily Kos, Vanity Fair, Raw Story, The Messenger, HuffPost, Bloomberg and IJR

Washington Post:

Live updates House expected to vote on Republican Mike Johnson as speaker — The House is expected to vote Wednesday on whether to install Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) as its speaker. Late Tuesday, Johnson became the fourth Republican pick for the post since the ouster of Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) three weeks ago.

Charlie Sykes / The Bulwark:

A Coup on His Resume — A note for historians (and psychologists): … The Bulwark is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. — Trump reminded the GOP that he remains the apex predator in the party.

Discussion: NBC News, The Dispatch, Associated Press and Political Wire

NBC News:

Who is Mike Johnson? Five things to know about the Republican nominee for speaker — The little-known Louisiana Republican says he's optimistic he'll win on the first ballot. — WASHINGTON — The newest Republican nominee for speaker, Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., is slated for a vote Wednesday in the full House.

Discussion: Washington Post, HuffPost, Roll Call, Digby's Hullabaloo, Forbes, Rolling Stone, Semafor, Washington Examiner, Axios, The Messenger, NewsNation, Mock Paper Scissors, Talking Points Memo, Washington Times, Florida Politics, The Gateway Pundit and Political Wire

Bethany Irvine / Politico:

Playbook PM: The first MAGA speaker? — Here's one you probably didn't have on your 2023 bingo card: House Speaker MIKE JOHNSON. — After 22 days of speakerless chaos and division (as opposed to the normal chaos and division, which happens with a speaker), Johnson (R-La.) …

Discussion: The Hill, The Daily Beast, The Message Box, The Nation, Mother Jones, RedState, Raw Story, Crooks and Liars, Political Wire and Daily Kos

Punchbowl News:

10/25/23 ☀️ Punchbowl News AM — We have a new GOP speaker nominee. The fourth in three weeks. And the second in just one day. But this time may be different. — Late Tuesday night, the House Republican Conference tapped Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) as its speaker designate.

Discussion: CNN, Semafor, Axios, RedState, USA Today, The Daily Caller, The Hill, BizPac Review, Talking Points Memo, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Examiner, The Messenger, Mock Paper Scissors, Fox News, The Daily Beast and Political Wire

The Messenger:

Democrats Eager to Use New GOP House Speaker as 2024 Campaign Weapon — Party officials see Rep. Mike Johnson as a complete unknown and are eager to highlight his positions on the 2020 election, abortion, and same-sex marriage — Rep. Mike Johnson's relative anonymity inside …

Discussion: Fox News, The Hill, Washington Post, Washington Examiner, The Guardian, RedState, Crooks and Liars, Semafor, Florida Politics, Daily Kos, PoliticusUSA, Mediaite, Fox Business and Political Wire

CNN:
Who is Rep. Mike Johnson, the House GOP's latest speaker nominee?

New York Times:
Johnson Played Leading Role in Effort to Overturn 2020 Election

Discussion: The Dean's Report, USA Today, The Mercury News, The Guardian, Bloomberg, CNN, Mediaite, New Republic, Mother Jones and ABC News

Robert B. Aderholt / Washington Post:
How each House member voted for Mike Johnson as speaker

Discussion: Fox News, NOLA.com, Daily Kos, Raw Story, Washington Examiner, Politico, Breitbart, The Hill, New York Post, The Messenger, Political Wire and IJR

Brent D. Griffiths / Insider:
Republicans shouted down a reporter and told her ‘shut up’ for asking their potential next House speaker about his efforts to overturn the 2020 election

Discussion: The Messenger, LGBTQ Nation, Newsweek, Outside the Beltway, The Guardian, Progress Pond, Raw Story, New Republic and CNN

Russell Berman / The Atlantic:
A Speaker Without Enemies—For Now

Discussion: emptywheel, Bloomberg, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, The American Conservative, Outside the Beltway, Forbes, The Hill, The Messenger and Political Wire

Washington Post:
Democrats should help elect a credible Republican speaker

Discussion: Vox, Roll Call, Daily Kos, HotAir, New York Times and Los Angeles Times

Stephen Collinson / CNN:

Trump rages as former acolytes turn against him under legal heat — Donald Trump's wealth, power and fame acted like a magnet for new associates keen to enter his orbit. But now, key figures who sought a share of his reflected glory are turning against him to save themselves.

Jacob Shamsian / Insider:
Sidney Powell pushes claims that 2020 election was rigged and prosecutors ‘extorted’ her after she pleaded guilty to election interference

Discussion: Raw Story

The Hill:
Titanic Trump: Co-defendants flee sinking MAGA ship

Discussion: Raw Story and Politico

David French / New York Times:
Trump's Lawyers Are Going Down. Is He? — On Tuesday morning, Jenna Ellis became …

Discussion: Bloomberg, Slate, Raw Story, Reason, No More Mister Nice Blog, New York Daily News and Vanity Fair

Adam Klasfeld / The Messenger:

Trump Hit With $10,000 Fine for Gag Order Violation After Judge Puts Ex-President on Witness Stand and Finds Him ‘Not Credible’ — The former president claimed under oath that he had been referring to his former fixer Michael Cohen, who was on the witness stand throughout the day and the focal point …

Jo Becker / New York Times:

Justice Thomas's R.V. Loan Was Forgiven, Senate Inquiry Finds — The justice failed to repay much, perhaps all, of the $267,230 loan. His benefactor wiped the slate clean, with ethical and potential tax consequences. — The terms of the private loan were as generous as they were clear …

Discussion: New York Daily News and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Wall Street Journal:

Israel Agrees to Delay Invasion of Gaza So U.S. Can Rush Missile Defenses to Region — Israel has agreed, for now, to a request from the U.S. to get its air defenses in place to protect U.S. troops in the region ahead of an expected ground invasion of Gaza, U.S. and Israeli officials said.

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, New York Post, The Gateway Pundit, The Times of Israel, Politico, HotAir, inews.co.uk, TASS, BizPac Review, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion, Reuters, The Messenger, NewsNation, israelhayom.com and Breitbart

Wall Street Journal:
Israel-Hamas War Updates: Israel Agrees to Delay Gaza Invasion for U.S. Military to Prepare Defenses

Discussion: Reuters, National Review, Sean Hannity, The Messenger and Politico

Phil Williams / WTVF-TV:

Voters soundly reject Gabrielle Hanson, other MAGA candidates in historic Franklin, Tennessee election — FRANKLIN, Tenn. (WTVF) — In perhaps the most bizarre race that this picturesque Middle Tennessee community has ever experienced, Franklin voters resoundingly rejected a candidate for mayor …

Discussion: Associated Press, LGBTQ Nation, Raw Story, The Messenger and The Daily Beast

Philip Bump / Washington Post:

It's the culture war, stupid: How Republicans view the presidency — One of the central refrains of Donald Trump's campaign for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination — a refrain focused, justifiably, on a general election rematch against President Biden — is that the economy was more robust during his tenure in the White House.

PRRI:
Threats to American Democracy Ahead of an Unprecedented Presidential Election

Discussion: Washington Post, Axios, Mock Paper Scissors, The Hill, Breitbart and WITF

Antonio Planas / NBC News:

12-year-old who emailed bomb threats to Maryland schools knew state law would prevent charges — A 12-year-old admitted to emailing seven bomb threats to schools, but state law says children younger than 13 can only face “crime of violence” charges. — A 12-year-old responsible …

Discussion: Montgomery County Maryland, The Messenger, Washington Post, One America News Network, WUSA and DC News Now

Matthew Kassel / Jewish Insider:

North Carolina lt. governor quoted Hitler in newly unearthed social media posts — Mark Robinson, the leading GOP candidate for governor, also likened the toppling of a Confederate statue to Kristallnacht, among other incendiary remarks — Mark Robinson, the lieutenant governor of North Carolina …

Discussion: Raw Story and acecomments.mu.nu

Martin Pengelly / The Guardian:

Trump made crude Oval Office remark about fate of Kurds in Syria, book says — Ex-president interrupted briefing to ask why he should ‘give a fuck’ about Kurds amid US troop withdrawal, Adam Kinzinger writes — Donald Trump surprised his own national security adviser and a group …

Discussion: Raw Story

Brooke Singman / Fox News:

FBI received ‘criminal information’ from over 40 confidential sources on Joe Biden, Hunter, James: Grassley — Grassley alleges that the FBI and DOJ sought to shut down investigations into the Bidens — EXCLUSIVE: The FBI maintained more than 40 confidential human sources …

Washington Post:

White House to unveil sweeping AI executive order next week — Tackling immigration and safety, the order would require advanced AI models to undergo assessments before they can be used by federal workers and ease barriers to entry for highly skilled workers

Discussion: Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal and The Messenger, more at Techmeme »