House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said in 2015 that Donald Trump is too “dangerous” and “lacks the character” to serve as president, according to The New York Times.
“The thing about Donald Trump is that he lacks the character and the moral center we desperately need again in the White House,” Johnson, then a state legislator, wrote in an Aug. 7, 2015, Facebook post, the newspaper reported Monday.
The Louisiana Republican, who has since deleted his post, reportedly said his fear with Trump is that “he would break more things than he fixes. He is a hot head by nature, and that is a dangerous trait to have in a Commander in Chief.”
What if Trump, as president, decided to bomb another head of state entirely because he felt disrespected by that head of state, Johnson wondered aloud.
“I am only halfway kidding about this,” he continued. “I just don’t think he has the demeanor to be President.”
The irony, of course, is that Johnson is now one of Trump’s strongest defenders — to the point of being willing to violate the Constitution for him. Johnson, a constitutional lawyer, was the architect of Congress’ failed effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election based on lies about widespread voter fraud.
Asked about his previous criticisms of Trump, Johnson told The New York Times on Monday that he made those comments before he knew Trump personally. Now, Johnson said, he’s grown to “appreciate the person that he is and the qualities about him that made him the extraordinary president that he was.”
By Tuesday morning, Johnson was back on national television praising Trump.
“I have endorsed him wholeheartedly,” Johnson said on CNBC. “I was one of the closest allies that President Trump had in Congress. He had a phenomenal first term.... I’m all in for President Trump. I expect he’ll be our nominee.”