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For Immediate Release April 11, 2024 Contact: Taylor Haulsee
WASHINGTON — This week, Speaker Johnson sat down with David Brody for a wide-ranging interview with The 700 Club on Christian Broadcasting Network. Speaker Johnson discussed his tenure in office and building consensus, aid to Israel, the border crisis, and governing, among other topics. Below are excerpts from the interview.
Click here to watch the full interview
On building consensus:
This is the modern Congress, and we have to learn to do that (build consensus). Ronald Reagan is the one that taught us the principle that I’d rather get 70 or 80% of what I want than go over the cliff with the flag waving. Right?
The process of the legislative body is that you have to build consensus, and sometimes you can’t get 100% in what you want, especially when you have the smallest margin in US history. So, it’s a consensus building exercise, and we’re not going to be able to throw, as we like to say, hail mary passes on every play. It’s more, right now, three yards in a cloud of dust. You move the ball up the field every day as much as you can, and you get the next verse down and you stay in the game. And then ultimately you win it that way. And that, that’s the era that we’re in.
On Israel aid:
166 Democrats in the house voted against it. The president of the United States, Joe Biden, threatened to veto that bill. It was shocking to me. So, we tried twice. We are going to get that done. The time is of the essence. And right now we’re determining the best path forward. And, and I think more and more Democrats are turning their backs on Israel, which is alarming because to your point, our Judeo-Christian heritage ties us together as a nation. The histories of both nations are entwined in that way. And that’s something that we ought to deeply respect. I think Israel must remain a close friend and an ally, the United States for all the reasons we’ve discussed.
On the border crisis:
It sounds like a conspiracy theory, but I think it’s actually true that the ultimate design is to turn some of these illegals into voters for their cause and to change the census outcome in 2030. Because if you can distribute people around the country in strategic ways and put them in strategic places, the census does not just count citizens. It counts residents, all persons. And that could dramatically affect the map in Congress. I mean, it sounds like some sort of crazy, you know, criminal design. And in my view it is. But I think that’s what they’re doing.
And the, and the idea is the President is demonstrating this even this week – you just give things out to people and you win constituencies. The student loan thing, for example, of course the Supreme Court has already said Congress is the only one that can make a change on that. He can’t be unilaterally as the President of the United States. You know what? He’s lawless. He doesn’t care. He is doing it anyway. Because he is trying to win over constituencies.
On the motion to vacate:
Well, I try to follow all the biblical admonitions as I do every day. And one of them says you bless those who persecute you. I’m getting a lot of practice in that right now. And that a soft word turns away wrath. And that you know, those who are opposing you, you don’t hate them and return, you know, evil for evil, you return good for evil. And so that, that’s the way I live my life. That’s the way I operate.
And so I don’t harbor any ill will towards Marjorie. Never have. I like Marjorie. I understand why she’s upset, she’s frustrated that we can’t score touchdowns on every single play. But the reality of the situation here is that we have to do this incrementally. We’ve got to demonstrate the American people that we can keep the train on the tracks.
And so pulling a motion to vacate, removing the Speaker right now is exactly the opposite of what we need to show the country. We can’t close the Congress down because that’s what will happen. They will blame us. And so it would hurt our chances of growing the majority, or our party or President Trump’s chances for his election because all of our fates in, in some sense, are tied together. So it’s really a very dangerous thing to be waving around, a motion to vacate right now when we’ve got to demonstrate that we can keep this country moving forward. And, and I hope that you realize that in the end and I think others are trying to make that case.
On Speaker Johnson’s faith:
You humble yourself before the Lord every day. Micah 6:8, He’s shown you, oh man, what is good and what the Lord requires of thee. Act justly, love mercy, walk humbly with your God. Right? That’s all of our admonition every single day. And when you’re given a position of authority, you have an even greater responsibility.
I often have read so many times and meditated over Solomon’s prayer after he was you know, given the throne. And God appeared to him in a dream and he said, ask me for anything you want. And he asked for wisdom. And it says there that, I need the wisdom to govern your people because how can they be governed? And that is my sole desire. We want the wisdom and the discernment and the stamina to do the thing that, that we believe God’s called all of us here to do. And that’s my, my consistent and steady prayer.
And I’ll tell you, it’s so encouraging to us as I travel around the country and meet with faithful people all over this nation from out west to Long Island, to the deep south, Midwest. There’s so many faithful people out there, many, many viewers of the 700 club I know, who feel that we’re all in this together and they’re supporting us prayerfully and consistently. And when they come up and tell me that with tears in their eyes, and they grab both shoulders and say, our whole family, our whole church is praying for you. I feel that. We know it. And that’s what sustains us to do this job.
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