Mike Johnson sees himself and other Christian nationalists as 'victims' of endless 'persecution': analysis
Before being nominated for House speaker, Rep. Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) didn't have a terribly high profile. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) told a CNN reporter that she needed to Google the new speaker in order to learn more about his background.
Since Johnson's confirmation, many reporters have been taking a close look at his far-right policies. The New Republic's Melissa Gira Grant examines Johnson's history in an article published on October 31, and she emphasizes that the new "Christian nationalist" House speaker has a major victim complex.
Johnson, according to Grant, views himself and other far-right Christian fundamentalists as the "righteously persecuted." When he made vehemently anti-gay comments in the past, Grant notes, Johnson would insist that he was the one being attacked.
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In a 2004 op-ed for the Shreveport Times, for example, Johnson claimed that "radical homosexual advocacy groups desperate for liberal judges" threatened the "entire democratic system." In 2016, Johnson claimed that evangelicals were being "prosecuted, fined (and) punished for practicing their faith."
Johnson has said that the "First Amendment does not allow Christian organizations to be treated like second-class citizens merely because of what they believe."
"It would be comforting to look at this argument, alleging Christians in the United States are victims of discrimination and persecution who are owed protection by the state, and see it merely as a ploy, a way of gaming the legal system," Grant explains. "But Johnson appears to sincerely believe it. After nearly a decade of the MAGA movement, and opposition to it too often confined to fact-checking and prosecuting a cast of out-of-touch extremists, untalented grifters, and shameless con men, Johnson appears to have scrambled the playbook — because he does seem to really believe in something more than his own self-advancement."
The New Republic's full report is available at this link.
