An unscripted moment between Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., at the former president's Madison Square Garden rally on Sunday sparked unease among Democrats.
“We gotta get the congressmen elected and we gotta get the senators elected, because we can take the Senate pretty easily, and I think with our little secret we’re going to do really well with the House, right? Our little secret is having a big impact,” Trump said, turning to Johnson.
“He and I have a secret. We’ll tell you what it is when the race is over,” the former president added with a chuckle.
Four years ago, Johnson aided Trump in his attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The exchange between the two men left Democrats wondering if the same could happen in 2025 should Vice President Kamala Harris win next week’s election, The New York Times reported.
Rep. Dan Goldman, D-NY., told CNN that Trump’s sole motivation for hosting a rally in New York was to ensure Republicans had a majority in Congress when it comes time to certify election results.
“On January 6, the certification of the Electoral College will happen again, and as we know from 2021, whoever is in control of the House of Congress will have a lot of say on what happens on January 6,” Goldman said.
“I suspect Donald Trump’s 'little secret' plan with Mike Johnson is a backup plan for when he loses and he tries to go to the House of Representatives to throw out the electoral college,” he added.
In a statement to The New York Times on Monday, Johnson seemed to confirm there was in fact a little secret between himself and the former president as he refused to share details on what the cryptic exchange really meant.
“By definition, a secret is not to be shared — and I don’t intend to share this one,” the Louisiana Congressman told The Times.
But at a small rally to support GOP congressional candidate Ryan Mackenzie later that day, Johnson told the crowd the “little secret” was just a “get-out-the-vote" effort, not a “diabolical” plan to overturn the election, The Hill reported.
“It’s nothing scandalous, but we’re having a ball with this. The media, their heads are exploding. ‘What is the secret?’” Johnson said, “It’s thing we have about — it’s a get-out-the-vote. It’s one of our tactics on get-out-the-vote," Johnson said, later adding that Trump advised him not to "beat down" the theories circling among Democrat.
