Ex-GOP Lawmaker Issues Stark Reminder Over Mike Johnsons Election

Former Rep. David Jolly (R-Fla.) said the election of Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) as House speaker isn’t a change in direction but rather “one foot in front of the other for the Republican conference.”

Jolly told MSNBC ’s Nicolle Wallace on Thursday, “It’s a reminder to the nation of where the Republican Party is today on critical issues of importance to them.”

He added, “Be it guns, be it reproductive rights, be it immigration, be it voting rights, be it the willingness to steal a free and fair election from Joe Biden — Mike Johnson is a reminder to the nation of that.”

Johnson, an evangelical Christian with extreme views on reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ freedoms and other social issues, is now second in line to the presidency after House Republicans unanimously elected him speaker on Wednesday.

Asked about gun control on Fox News  after Wednesday’s mass shooting in Maine, which left 18 people dead, Johnson said, “The problem is the human heart.”

Johnson was elected following weeks of turmoil and infighting as the conference struggled to unite behind a leader to replace Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who was ousted earlier this month in a Republican coup.

See Jolly’s analysis on MSNBC below.