House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) reacted with me-against-the-world hype to reports that fellow bigwigs ganged up on him in a meeting with President Joe Biden. (Watch the video below.)
Fox News host Sean Hannity asked Johnson Wednesday if articles were accurate that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) pressed him hard on issues that included funding for Ukraine’s flagging war effort.
“Well, their reports are pretty accurate. They said that I was on an island by myself, and it was me versus everyone else in the room,” Johnson said, referring to a Politico story.
“What the liberal media doesn’t understand, Sean, is that if you’re here in Washington and you’re described as a leader that’s on an island by themselves, it probably means you’re standing with the American people,” he continued. “And that’s what I did yesterday, I reminded the president, and all involved that the No. 1 issue in America is that open border. The catastrophe that we have that President Biden himself designed, that he caused and created, and I told him, just as I have many times before, he must address it with his executive authority. We can’t wait any longer.”
After Republicans clamored for a solution to the border crisis, Johnson was instrumental in killing a bipartisan bill to staunch the influx of migrants. The pushback was reportedly to appease Donald Trump and keep Biden from scoring political points before their expected November showdown.
A senator who asked to remain anonymous confirmed to The Hill that Johnson faced immense pressure from Schumer and McConnell at the meeting to take up the Senate’s aid package for Ukraine, whose situation is turning desperate against Russia. (The gathering was also about solving the impending government shutdown, which was averted.)
But as of now, Johnson does not appear inclined to bring the military aid proposal to the House floor, wanting to tie the $60 billion to provisions for border security.