Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) is now saying that the left is pressuring Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) into backing its priorities, including “the trans agenda on children.” Johnson does not back transgender equality.
“Mike Johnson has completely changed his character in about five months after becoming speaker of the House,” Greene said on white nationalist Tucker Carlson’s online show.
“Mike Johnson has completely shifted from who he is and what he stands for, to the point where people are asking, is he being blackmailed?” she continued. “What's wrong with him because he’s completely disconnected from what we want.”
“I can’t understand, Tucker, what drastically changes a man,” she said. “Let’s break that down. So Mike Johnson is pro-life. And the second part of the omnibus, just less than two weeks ago, he funded full-term abortion clinics, full-term abortion clinics!”
“He supported the trans agenda on children. I mean, how does that even happen from a Christian conservative Republican speaker?”
According to her, full-term abortions don't exist, and the federal government is prohibited from funding abortion under the Hyde Amendment. She is likely referring to funding for reproductive health clinics. However, this funding cannot be used for abortions, but rather for other healthcare services provided by those clinics.
Regarding the “trans agenda on children,” she is probably talking about grants and healthcare that the federal government was already paying for, including the military’s coverage of gender-affirming care for servicemembers and their families, as well as grants to LGBTQ+ community centers.
Johnson has consistently been against LGBTQ+ equality, and it seems unlikely that he will begin supporting it soon.
Greene then criticized Johnson, stating that he “funded the FBI… fully funded the Department of Justice,” which is “literally trying to put [Donald Trump] in jail the rest of his life.”
“We don’t know who Mike Johnson is anymore.”
The omnibus funding bill Greene mentioned was passed last month to fund the federal government and avoid a shutdown. The Senate and the White House are controlled by Democrats, while Republicans have a slight majority in the House, so it was unlikely that far-right Republicans could include all their legislative priorities in the bill.
Greene and other extreme Republicans declined to vote for a bill that had a chance of passing the Senate, leading Johnson to seek help from House Democrats to pass it.
Greene presented a motion to remove Johnson as speaker last month, just before the House went on a two-week break. She has not yet indicated whether she will push for a vote on the motion. Since all Democrats would likely vote to remove Johnson – Democrats typically do not vote to support Republican speakers and vice versa – Johnson could be removed if as few as two Republicans vote for his removal. Therefore, Greene would only need to find one colleague to back her motion if she decides to force a vote on it.
The relevant conversation begins around the 12:30 mark.
