Charlie Sykes: The House’s new 'full MAGA speaker' is a 'Kraken-level conspiracy theorist'

After going more than three weeks without a speaker and going through a list of failed nominees — including Rep. Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana), Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minnesota) — Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives finally confirmed a new speaker, Rep. Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) on Wednesday afternoon, October 25. The vote came down along party lines, with Democrats voting unanimously for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) and Republicans voting unanimously to confirm Johnson.

Some of the most scathing criticism of the new House speaker is coming from a conservative: The Bulwark's Charlie Sykes. During an October 26 appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," Sykes slammed Johnson as a "MAGA" extremist who tried to keep former President Donald Trump in office in 2020 after he clearly lost the election to now-President Joe Biden.

Sykes told host Mika Brzezinski, "Adam Kinzinger describes Mike Johnson as Jim Jordan in drag. So, there's no question about it: This is a full MAGA speaker. You know, describing him as one of the chief architects of the Electoral College objections actually understates Mike Johnson's role. I mean, Mike Johnson is a full-throated believer in Kraken-level conspiracy theories about Dominion, about Hugo Chavez. If he had gotten his way, tens of millions of votes would have been thrown out."

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The Never Trump conservative added, "He may be a personable individual, but he is a pure ideologue."

Sykes argued that Johnson's confirmation was a victory for Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) — whose "motion to vacate" led to Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-California) being ousted as speaker — and other MAGA Republicans who believed that McCarthy wasn't Trumpism enough.

"Ultimately," Sykes lamented, "they got their way. All of the normies caved in. For a brief five minutes, it looked like the moderates were going to hold the line. But ultimately, the swishes did what swishes always do. And the fact that it was unanimous is also extraordinary."

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