Critics described Johnson’s defense of the ex-president as «on brand» for the right-wing speaker of the House.
Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) appeared on Tuesday at the New York City courthouse where Donald Trump’s hush money trial is currently taking place, pushing false talking points regarding the trial that are frequently peddled by the former president.
Trump faces 34 charges regarding his attempts to hide payments to women with whom he had extramarital affairs through allegedly shady business practices, including mislabeling reimbursements for those payments as legal fees and orchestrating a “catch and kill” scheme with a tabloid to conceal news of his affairs from the public.
Trump has falsely claimed that prosecutors are only targeting him for political reasons, despite overwhelming evidence that their allegations have merit. After Trump released numerous public statements attacking the Manhattan District Attorney’s office and others involved in the case, Justice Juan Merchan, the judge overseeing the trial, placed a gag order on Trump, limiting what he can discuss publicly about the trial and barring attacks against court staff and witnesses that could affect the case’s outcome.
This past week, several Republicans — many of whom are vying to become Trump’s vice presidential running mate for the 2024 election — appeared in front of the courthouse to defend the former president. In addition to Johnson, Reps. Byron Donalds (R-Florida) and Cory Mills (R-Florida) and former GOP presidential candidates Vivek Ramaswamy and Gov. Doug Burgum (R-North Dakota) appeared at the courthouse on Tuesday. Sens. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) and Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) and Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-New York) were there on Monday, and Sen. Rick Scott (R-Florida) was there last week
Johnson is not on the short list of potential running mates for Trump, but he did meet with the GOP presidential nominee last month to discuss a motion to vacate measure he was facing from Rep.
