Following a collective meltdown the night prior, the major broadcast networks of ABC, CBS, and NBC used their Thursday morning news shows to keep up pressure and impress upon viewers that Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) isn’t someone to be trusted given he’s “not...bipartisan” and is not only “right-wing,” but possesses “one of the most conservative records” in a part where “election denialism is...vibrant”.
NBC’s Today saw Capitol Hill correspondent Ryan Nobles get a crack at ripping Johnson after the network had Garrett Haake do it the night prior. Nobles warned “Johnson has not been much of a bipartisan politician” and instead a man with “conservative views on abortion, gay rights, and gun control, and he was a leading voice in Republican efforts to overturn the 2020 election.”
“A position Biden’s fellow Democrats view as disqualifying, but Republicans embraced, shouting down reporter attempts to question Johnson on the topic,” he added before fretting the House GOP’s booing of ABC’s Rachel Scott when she badgered him about it earlier in the week.
Over on CBS Mornings, featured co-host Vladimir Duthiers teased a full story on the caucus “choosing one of their most right-wing members.”
Along with co-host Nate Burleson accurately calling him a “conservative Republican,” January 6 correspondent Scott MacFarlane obviously fixated on Johnson’s views about the 2020 election.
Prior to that, he described Johnson as a “51-year-old former radio talk host and attorney” who’s “opposed abortion rights and supports a nationwide abortion ban without exceptions and, last month, he voted against a deal cut with Democrats to keep the government open.”
On elections, he seemed to imply without evidence Johnson could thwart a hypothetical 2025 certification of a Biden reelection and said “election denialism is still a vibrant, pivotal issue” for the party writ large (click “expand”):
MACFARLANE: The House Johnson now leads will take part in certifying next year’s presidential election, but the new speaker backed Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 results. He promoted debunked mail fraud and voter machine conspiracy theories, and he also recruited a majority of House Republicans to sign a legal brief supporting a lawsuit seeking to overturn the vote outcome, which was rejected by the Supreme Court.
HOUSE DEMOCRATIC CAUCUS CHAIR PETE AGUILAR (D-CA): He spearheaded the legal effort joined by more than a hundred of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle in support of a dangerous and baseless lawsuit to overturn the results.
(....)
DUTHIERS: What more can you tell us about the new speaker, specifically, his role in trying to overturn the 2020 election?
MACFARLANE: He didn’t just vote to decertify the election, he had his fingerprints all over that effort, galvanizing Republicans to back that legal challenge from Texas and here we are, more than a thousand days since January 6th, and election denialism is still a vibrant, pivotal issue. One candidate for speaker voted to certify the election. He couldn’t get past the finish line. Mike Johnson in his fourth term, just sped past the finish line.
Still clearly incensed he refused to answer her 2020 election questions and stood by as House Republicans booed her, ABC’s Rachel Scott was back on Good Morning America to warn voters that “Johnson has the least amount of experience for any speaker in 140 years and one of the most conservative records yet.”
“He supports a nationwide abortion ban with few exceptions. He is not in favor of protection for same sex marriage and voted to overturn the 2020 election recruiting members to challenge the result,” he huffed.
To see the relevant transcripts from October 26, click here (for ABC), here (for CBS), and here (for NBC).
