“There is a contrast between people who love the country and its founding principles, and those who have open disdain for them.”

WASHINGTON — This morning, at the weekly House Republican Leadership press conference, Speaker Johnson discussed the genius of the American experiment in self-governance and celebrated the endurance of our Republic as we mark our 250th Anniversary this week. Speaker Johnson also discussed the FY27 National Defense Authorization Act, which furthers President Trump’s America first, peace through strength agenda.

“The insurgent Left hates America and hates our founding principles. They hate the idea of borders and prisons. They even want to remove the President and the Supreme Court. Very dangerous stuff,” Speaker Johnson said. “We’re no longer in a battle just between Republicans and Democrats arguing over marginal tax rates or the size of regulation this election and this year… Right now, we have a contrast between people who love the country and its founding principles, and those who have open disdain and hatred for them.”

Watch the press conference here.

On America’s 250th Anniversary:

You will hear me remind us of that all the time. The most free, most successful, most powerful, most benevolent nation that has ever been on planet Earth. America is back right now, and there are so many reasons to be excited and to celebrate with your family and friends. Celebrate freedom. Celebrate the great blessings we have in this country, the greatest on the planet. We’ve got challenges, of course, we’re working through those every day. But there is no reason not to celebrate. There is no reason to be depressed in any way. We recognize 250 years is still an experiment. We’re still a grand experiment in self-governance. In 1776, the Founders came together and they boldly proclaimed this self-evident truth. We call it the nation’s creed. It’s like a statement of faith. And they said right in the second paragraph of the Declaration, which we celebrate this weekend. We hold these truths to be self-evident. And what is the self-evident truth? It is something that’s obvious. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. And I always pause there and note that it doesn’t say born equal. It says created equal by God and that it is God, our Creator, who gives us our inalienable rights. That among those the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

On the Democrats’ embrace of socialism and communism:

We have an open contest right now between the Marxists and communists and the Americans. We’ve been saying for months that this is setting up, this midterm will be a contrast between common sense and crazy. And now you can add another line there. It’s, it’s common sense versus communism, because that’s what’s happening in the Democrat Party. The insurgent Left is taking it over – the insurgent Left that hates America, hates our founding principles.

They hate the idea of borders and prisons. They even want to remove the President and the Supreme Court…They wipe their hands on the American flag. Many of them have ties to terrorist organizations. You can’t make this stuff up. We’re no longer in a battle just between Republicans and Democrats arguing over marginal tax rates or the size of regulation this election and this year. The things that are happening in Congress right now are a contrast between people who love the country and its founding principles and those who have open disdain and hatred for them. They want to tear America down. They want to tear down Western civilization. And it’s not going to happen on our watch.

On the National Defense Authorization Act:

We will invest properly, appropriately, and responsibly in America’s national defense. Our policies reflect that. We have a pay raise to our troops that’s overdue, another 5 to 7%. We will advance 65 of President Trump’s priorities and executive orders in the legislation. We will do the things that are necessary to make sure we maintain our status as the great superpower, the remaining superpower on the planet. It is absolutely essential that we do that for a couple of reasons. Number one, Reagan used to remind us, you hear me say all the time, ‘Freedom is not passed along in the bloodstream. It’s got to be fought for, protected for the next generation or else they won’t have the same liberty and opportunity and security that we have known.’ And America is the leader of the world. We are the beacon of freedom.

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