Gaetz has worked with Johnson on the House Judiciary Committee for seven years, he told talk show host and former Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon during an appearance on his show Wednesday.
House Republicans made Johnson the Speaker after three previous Republicans could not gather enough support after being named the nominee. Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was kicked out of the job more than three weeks ago and the House had passed no bills from then until Johnson was elected.
“The swamp is on the run, MAGA is ascendant, and if you don’t think that moving from Kevin McCarthy to MAGA Mike Johnson shows the ascendance of this movement, and where the power of the Republican Party truly lies, then you’re not paying attention,” Gaetz said.
Gaetz spearheaded the effort to oust McCarthy earlier this month, citing a lack of trust and broken promises.
“We’re in the majority right now,” Johnson said after being sworn in as Speaker. “We’ve gone through a little bit of character building, and you know what it’s produced: more strength, more perseverance and a lot of hope.”
Seen article mentioned on The Hill, Rising:
Briahna Joy Gray and Robby Soave weigh in on Rep. Matt Gaetz’s reaction to Speaker Mike Johnson’s win of the Speaker’s gavel.
Matt Gaetz: MAGA TAKEOVER Of GOP Is COMPLETE, PRAISES ‘Sharp’ Speaker Mike Johnson
Based on historical trends, they should have outperformed democrats in the last midterms. They did not. The fact that the freedom caucus exists is a consequence of trump becoming the republican party. They never actually want to govern (they usually complain that government doesn’t work and then slash government funding and power to make it a self fulfilling prophecy) but now they are actually incapable of governing because of how poisoned the party is.