Mike Johnson is turning the House into his TV studio

The new Speaker of the House will use the same tactics as Trump, but just in glasses and a quieter tone, Ahmed Baba writes

House Speaker Rep Mike Johnson (Getty Images)

Just one week into his Speakership, it is clear that Rep Mike Johnson (R-LA) is fully embracing the right-wing propaganda machine that Donald Trump exploited. Johnson appears eager to beam his extremism directly into the homes of millions of Americans, and Fox News is happy to facilitate.

On Thursday night, Speaker Mike Johnson turned the House of Representatives into his TV studio. Fox News anchor Sean Hannity broadcasted his show from Capitol Hill, sat in front of four chairs, where Johnson sat among a rotation of the House Republican leadership. The scene was arranged in a town hall format, but instead of average Americans in the audience, it was filled with dozens of agreeable House Republicans.

In one segment, Rep Jim Jordan (R-OH), Rep James Comer (R-KY), and Rep Jason Smith (R-MO) spent 10 minutes pushing their baseless impeachment claims about President Joe Biden. Johnson sat quietly, nodding along to Jordan’s auctioneer voice.

When asked directly if he believed the evidence so far would lead to impeachment, Johnson endorsed the inquiry: “We’re going to follow the truth where it leads because we have a constitutional responsibility to do so. We’re on it. We’re going to continue.”

When Hannity asked the whole room to raise their hands if they thought the inquiry would lead to impeachment, the entire room raised their hands, to which Hannity feigned surprise, saying, “Wow, the whole room.”

This totally one-sided spectacle was the definition of an echo chamber and an indicator of what we can expect from Johnson’s media strategy. Mike Johnson will heavily lean into the symbiotic, mutually beneficial right-wing media relationship that Donald Trump fully embraced. Mike Johnson’s support of an impeachment inquiry showcases that we will have many more right-wing media spectacles to come.

Just as former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich pioneered using C-SPAN to spread his message and later used conservative radio in the 90s, Trump did the same with Twitter and Fox News to push his agenda. This exploitation of the Attention Economy has increasingly dominated the Republican Party for decades, and Mike Johnson is continuing that trend. Johnson has spent the past week in front of as many cameras as he could find.

Johnson’s record of extremism was under immense scrutiny after he was elected Speaker less than 24 hours after being nominated. He played a key role in the effort to overturn the 2020 election, has supported abortion bans, and opposed same-sex relationships throughout his career. Amid this backlash, Johnson was immediately given a platform the following day on Fox News to rebuff that scrutiny.

Speaker Johnson held a 42-minute interview with Hannity that aired last week, where Johnson defended his homophobic remarks and staunch opposition to same-sex marriage. In response to a question from Hannity about that, Johnson said he loves all people, but at the same time touted his religious beliefs: “I’m a Bible-believing Christian. Someone asked me today in the media, ‘People are curious: what does Mike Johnson think about any issue under the sun?’ I said well, ‘Go pick up a Bible off your shelf, and read it, that’s my worldview. That’s what I believe…’”

But Johnson promised his personal convictions wouldn’t become law, in spite of the fact he has repeatedly sought to make his personal convictions become law. Johnson co-sponsored multiple nationwide abortion bans and voted against the recent bipartisan same-sex marriage law.

Every step of the way during his one-on-one interview, Hannity enabled and even at times solicited Johnson to make himself appear less extreme. Johnson weaponizes his calm, low-key demeanor to water down his overtly radical stances, making them more palatable for his target audience.

Other recent moves from Mike Johnson indicate he will emulate Trump’s media strategy. This week, it was reported that Johnson hired Raj Shah to be his Chief Spokesperson, run the Speaker office’s communications, and help run all House Republican messaging. Aside from previously serving in the Trump Administration as White House Deputy Press Secretary, you won’t believe where else he worked…You guessed it. Fox News.

Shah spent four years as a senior vice president at Fox News. He was ousted after the Dominion lawsuit spotlighted his role in knowingly pushing the 2020 election lies that led to the January 6 insurrection. Now, he’s going to be running communications for the Speaker of the House, an office second in line to the presidency.

Disinformation and extremism are dangerous enough when peddled on the fringes. But now, the far-right has an ally in the new Speaker of the House, who will use the same media tactics Trump embodied, but just in glasses and a quieter tone.