'Tricky moment' for Speaker Johnson as he makes first visit to 'kiss the ring' of Trump: report

Although House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) is a far-right Christian nationalist who supported former President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, some MAGA Republicans are disappointed that he avoided a government shutdown by working out a bipartisan spending agreement with House Democrats. The stopgap measure also passed in the Democrat-controlled U.S. Senate and was signed into law by President Joe Biden.

But MAGA criticism, according to a New York Times source, didn't stop Johnson from visiting former President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Monday, November 20.

The New York Times' Annie Karni reports that Johnson made "his first pilgrimage to kiss the ring of the Republican presidential front-runner since his surprise elevation to the top post in the House last month." The source spoke to the Times on condition of anonymity, according to Karni.

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Karni explains, "The visit to Mr. Trump's Florida home came at a tricky moment for the inexperienced speaker, who is already facing criticism from hard-right allies livid at him for teaming with Democrats last week to pass legislation to avert a government shutdown…. Mr. Trump's influence over spending fights in Washington may be limited, but Mr. Johnson's decision to meet with him within weeks of his election is a sign he knows he cannot afford to have Mr. Trump weighing in publicly against him and hardening right-wing opposition to his leadership."

The Times journalist adds that Johnson has "taken other steps to ingratiate himself to the far right and cement his hold on the gavel."

"Late last week," Karni notes, "he announced he was publicly releasing surveillance video of the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, a step far-right lawmakers and activists have been demanding as they seek to undercut the facts about how supporters of Mr. Trump violently stormed the complex seeking to overturn his electoral defeat."

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Read the New York Times' full report at this link (subscription required).