Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is cementing his place in President-elect Trump’s inner orbit, becoming not only a visible — if slightly out-of-place-looking — part of his entourage, but a key supporter of his no-holds-barred approach to his second term.
The dynamic is setting up the Speaker to be critical to Trump’s success in his first months in office, both in ushering through his agenda and putting implicit pressure on congressional Republicans to rubber-stamp Trump’s controversial nominees and legislative plans.
The Speaker’s importance in MAGA World was on full display at a UFC fight at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night, when he was part of a parade of allies that accompanied Trump. The crew included Elon Musk; Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s pick for director of national intelligence; Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., his Health and Human Services secretary choice; and Donald Trump Jr.
The contrast between the mild-mannered, conservative Christian, self-described “nerdy constitutional law guy” and the rest of the tough-guy Trump crew was stark.
In response to a selfie Johnson snapped at Saturday’s UFC fight with musical artists Kid Rock and Jelly Roll — the latter of whom has face tattoos — internet jokers compared Johnson “sheltered evangelical kid who went to a secular concert with his public school friends,” and to “the chess club president who got invited to hang with the football team.”
But Trump and Johnson have the shared interest of quickly pushing through legislation to extend the tax cuts passed in Trump’s first term, among other priorities, which Johnson has been planning with Trump and Senate Republicans for months.........