Former US Republican Representative Liz Cheney made a worrying prediction about newly-elected House Speaker Mike Johnson during a podcast appearance this week, in which she described the Louisiana congressman as “dangerous.”
Ms Cheney, who previously represented Wyoming, said that although Mr Johnson has stated he’s committed to defending the US Constitution, his past actions have shown otherwise, she noted on the Politics is Everythingpodcast hosted by the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics.
“Mike [Johnson] is somebody that I knew well. We were elected together. Our officers were next to each other,” Ms Cheney said.
“Mike is somebody who says that he’s committed to defending the Constitution. But that’s not what he did when we were all tested in the aftermath of the 2020 election.”
She explained that during her time as chairwoman of the House Republican Conference from 2019 to 2021, Mr Johnson attempted to convince 125 Republicans to support an amicus brief with the US Supreme Court seeking to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Georgia.
She added that Mr Johnson previously appeared to be willing to set aside “the ruling of the courts, the requirements of the Constitution, in order to placate Donald Trump, in order to gain praise from Donald Trump, for political expedience.
“He was acting in ways that he knew to be wrong,” she said. “And I think that the country unfortunately will come to see the measure of his character.”
She added: “So it’s a concerning moment to have him be elected Speaker of the House…”
Mr Johnson is “dangerous” she continued, because he was a Republican who knew better than to go along with the efforts to undermine the country by attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Ms Cheney has been a long-time critic of former president Trump and previously served on the House Jan 6 committee, becoming only one of two Republicans to do so.
In May 2021, House Republicans voted her out as chairwoman of the House Republican Conference. At the time, she was the highest-ranking Republican congresswoman.
Mr Johnson, who is a US Republican Representative from Louisiana, has espoused extreme views on homosexuality and previously supported a national abortion ban.
