House Speaker Mike Johnson may have picked the worst possible moment to declare that “crazy people” frequently get elected in America: Newsmax was airing footage of Donald Trump as he said it.
Johnson made the comment during a Saturday interview with the right-wing network while discussing who should be allowed to run for office. As he spoke, Newsmax showed Trump sitting behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick standing beside him.
“It’s not unlawful for crazy people to run for office,” Johnson said, smiling.
“That’s happened throughout the history of our country,” he continued, still smiling. “Never at this level, and never the number of people who are so determined to rip the Constitution in half.”
It was an especially awkward moment given what Johnson went on to say about the Constitution—and the Supreme Court decision this week that could pave the way for Trump to implement harsh restrictions on mail-in voting.
That could disenfranchise millions of eligible voters caught off guard by the president’s midterm voting restrictions—or unable to vote in person because of work or childcare commitments, disability, or lack of transportation.
Johnson warned: “We are now quite literally locked into a contest to determine whether we’re gonna keep our republic, keep the country as it is, or break this down to the foundation and go down an entirely different road toward communism.”
He was apparently referring to Democrats as “communists,” even though it’s the Democratic Party that’s battling to protect voters’ rights to cast their ballot, in person or by mail, in the upcoming election.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House and to Johnson’s office for comment.
Critics on X were agog. One posted a maxed-out “hypocrisy meter.”
X poster BMagic offered a long list of items on “Mike Johnson’s agenda” that is “currently setting the Constitution on fire.”
Another pointed out how Republicans’ complaints about Democrats more accurately describe the GOP.
Then there were these posts:
