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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Rachel Leingang

Mike Johnson helped Trump on January 6 - now he’s a threat to democracy

Middle-aged white man with dark hair and dark-framed glasses, dark suit, red tie, in front of American flag with left hand on Bible and right hand raised as he appears to speak.
Mike Johnson takes the oath of office after being elected House speaker at the US Capitol in Washington DC, on 25 October 2023. Photograph: Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters

The Louisiana congressman Mike Johnson, whom Republicans in Congress elected as their speaker after more than three weeks of leaderless chaos, played a key role in Donald Trump’s attempts to subvert the results of the 2020 election.

Johnson amassed enough support to win the speakership because of his allegiance to Trumpian ideals, earning him the nickname on the far right of “Maga Mike”. A litmus test of sorts for the speakership was alignment with rightwing views, including believing in a stolen election, though the firebrand approach of failed speaker candidate Jim Jordan soured moderate members, despite his election-denying bonafides.

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