2y ago

House Speaker Mike Johnson Responds to New Round of Scrutiny About Black Son

www.vanityfair.com

Mike Johnson’s meteoric elevation from an under-the-radar congressman from Louisiana to second-in-line to the U.S. presidency sent journalists, Democrats and Republicans alike to uncover information about the personal and professional history of the most right-wing and least experienced House Speaker in history, who took the top job on Wednesday.

On the day Johnson was voted in, several major right-wing social media accounts on X, formerly known as Twitter, began circulating clips of an interview Johnson gave to PBS in 2020, in which he told journalist Walter Isaacson that the police killing of George Floyd was “an act of murder” and called for “systemic change.” Notably, Johnson said in the interview that he had learned about racism in America through the experience of raising a Black son, Michael.

40 comments

Wait, what? This isn't something to be criticized for. Having a black adopted son and learning the realities of racism in America and learning from it is a good thing. He should be criticized for all the other shit, but not this.
- They aren't complaining that he had a black son, but that he's an "undercover Democrat" because he's stated that he learned about racism from the kid, saying things like, “Michael being a Black American, and Jack being white Caucasian. They have different challenges,” he said. “My son Jack has an easier path. He just does.”
  Further, there was a question as to if the kid was real since there are no photos. That led to the new clarification:
  Speculation about whether Michael was a real person prompted Johnson’s office to clarify. “When Speaker Johnson first ran for Congress in 2016, he and his wife, Kelly, spoke to their son Michael—who they took in as newlyweds when Michael was 14 years old,” said Corinne Day, Johnson’s communications director, in a statement first reported by Newsweek. “At the time of the Speaker’s election to Congress, Michael was an adult with a family of his own. He asked not to be involved in their new public life.” Day added that Johnson “maintains a close relationship with Michael to this day.”
  So if we are to believe him, there are no photos because that is the way the now-adult kid wants it.
  
  I'm not going to believe a dang thing any Conservative says without concrete evidence and peer review.
  If the black kid adoption story is real, there will be photos, and someone will be able to produce them. If there are no photos, it's all a lie.
  
  So if we are to believe him, there are no photos because that is the way the now-adult kid wants it.
  Let's start a new conspiracy theory that he doesn't actually have a Black son. It'll go viral in a day. Space lasers!
- I'm not saying you're wrong. But the right has a habit of only showing empathy only when it directly affects them.
  Black people deserve protection from the law, yes. But let's not pretend that he'd change his tune about LGBT people in a split second if his son turned out to be gay or trans.
  
  Black people don’t deserve protection from the law. Black people deserve equal treatment under the law.
- It’s not at all something to criticize, it’s noble to adopt a child. It’s his party base that will pillory him.
- He hasn't legally adopted this "son" and he's not shown in any family photos.
  
  And he had a history of making up bullshit
- Let's see the long-form ~~birth certificate~~ family photos first!
- That's why McCain lost to Bush Jr.
  
  You can thank Karl Rove for that.
  McCain's adopted daughter is from Bangladesh, by the way.
- Wikipedia says he has four kids. His campaign website also says 'father of four'. Looking at pictures of his family... on his campaign website....
  
  I'll just.... leave it at that.
  
  The story is that the kid is now 38. According to his campaign prior to running they talked and the kid requested to not be involved in the new public life.
  If true that's actually pretty big.
  
  Very odd indeed. Is this guy another George Santos?
So his 'black son' was born in 1985 and is now 38.
- Funny how the christians said the gays were trying to 'redefine marriage', and yet they did just that by making laws to accept 'covenant marriage'.
  I think same-sex marriage should have included a legal stipulation that we get free tacos every Tuesday for the lifetime of our marriages!! That's how you redefine marriage!!
Lol the secret exposed news that he's actually not racist is a controversy, but there's zero issues against his intense anti gay stance.
That kid’s going to be so scarred.
They all lie to get to power. They all tell us what we want to hear so we will elevate them to this power. If a politician is moving their mouth, they are lying.
- “All politicians are the same, amirite?”
  No, you are wrong
  
  “Nuh-uh, YoU aRe WrOnG”
  Yes, meet any politician anywhere in the world, and I can guarantee that they lied somewhere about something to get to that power. I would have to lie too, it’s the game, not the players. I count bending the truth and withholding info as lying as well.
- Why is this so hard for people to realize. You aren't inline once you are on the ride
- I keep seeing people saying this and don't understand why...
  This isn't about minimizing Harris. This is because you misunderstand what it means to be "in line".
  Biden isn't in line. He's President.
  Harris is first in line.
  Johnson is second in line.
  If you are currently riding an amusement park ride, you aren't in line for it. You're first in line if you'll be the next person to get on the ride.
- I’m from San Francisco and have watched and voted for Kamala Harris since her first race.
  Here are some unfortunate truths: Kamala Harris is an absolute dogshit politician who has zero constituency, zero political strategy skills, zero retail politics skills, and seemingly zero ability to break out of the box she’s mostly gotten herself into.
- I think you need to check your math.
  The Vice President is first in line to succeed an ailing or dying President. The Speaker of the House is second in line. Third in line is the President Pro Tempore of the Senate.
  Wikipedia does a nice job explaining it, with a rank chart showing Kamala Harris first, and Mike Johnson second.

40 comments