House Speaker Mike Johnson told CNN he does not believe multiple polls showing President Donald Trump’s signature budget bill deeply underwater.
“Our own Harry Enten, who is the numbers guy, … he put together some numbers and said it's among the most unpopular laws passed since 1990, less so than the affordable care act, the bank bailout and the Republican tax bill of 2017,” said CNN anchor John Berman.
“I'm not surprised by these numbers at all,” answered Johnson, “because there's been an all-out assault and effort by Democrats and the mainstream media to, frankly, misinform people about what's in the bill.”
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Johnson insisted that “when they take the same polls of the individual provisions of that giant piece of legislation, they're wildly popular.”
But Berman showed Johnson polls showing that was incorrect.
While poll respondents showed approval for defense spending and no taxes on tops, “everything else they asked about was underwater,” Berman told him. “[Killing the] EV tax credit: Underwater. Boost Medicare requirements: Underwater. Increase border wall spending: Underwater. Increase detention center spending: Underwater. [Killing] solar wind incentives: Sent them underwater. Reduced SNAP benefits: Underwater. et cetera. et cetera.”
“I'm not — look — I’m not buying that,” Johnson said. “Polls can be, you know, manipulated. We have seen a string of polls over and over and over that many of those — every one of those provisions, in fact, that you said — are popular. … “I've been in town halls around the country over this break with 12 states in the last week. and people are standing and applauding for what we've done.”
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News reports more commonly show Republicans fleeing constituents at town halls, however, primarily over their passage of Trump’s budget bill.
“I tell you, the facts are going to speak for themselves,” Johnson said. “The results and the things that people experience, and that's why we're excited about the midterms coming up. we're going to win this.”
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