Mike Johnson’s victory shows that GOP moderates will ultimately 'cave' to 'far-right' pressure: analysis

After more than three weeks without a speaker, House Republicans finally filled the position on Wednesday, October 25 when far-right Rep. Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) received the 217 votes needed for confirmation. The vote came down along party lines: Democrats unanimously voted to make House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) speaker, while Republicans unanimously gave Johnson a "yes" vote.

In a MaddowBlog opinion column published on October 26, MSNBC's Steve Benen stresses that there is a valuable lesson to be learned from Johnson's confirmation: "moderate" Republicans often cave into pressure from the far right when push comes to shove.

"How many of the alleged House GOP 'centrists' ended up opposing House Speaker Mike Johnson's far-right bid?" Benen writes. "Literally none of them. They could've exercised their power, but they all went along with their party's wishes instead."

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Johnson's critics include not only liberals and progressives, but some traditional conservatives as well.

The Bulwark's Charlie Sykes, during an October 26 appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," slammed Johnson as a MAGA election denialist and a "full-throated believer in Kraken-level conspiracy theories." And former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Illinois) has described Johnson as "Jim Jordan in drag."

Benen recalls that "remarkably," the House's "moderate" Republicans didn't "cave" when Jordan was nominated for speaker and lost three votes. But with Johnson, they clearly fell in line.

Benen notes, "Those of us who assumed the so-called 'moderates' would cave were right — even if we were off by a week."

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Read Steve Benen's full MSNBC column at this link.