Speaker Mike Johnson Condemned by Far-Right for Comments on His Black Son and George Floyd: ‘Undercover Democrat?’

Isaac SchorrOct 26th, 2023, 9:31 am
 

Newly-minted Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) is taking incoming fire from both sides of the political spectrum.

Once it became clear he would win the gavel on Wednesday,  the left began to hammer him for his conservative social views and hawking of conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election. But the far-right, too, has found a bone to pick with Johnson.

In the wake of George Floyd’s death in 2020, Johnson said Floyd had been murdered — a jury later found that Officer Derek Chauvin had murdered him — and, in an interview with Walter Isaacson, suggested that his adopted black son was treated differently than his biological white son.

Asked what he felt after watching the video of Floyd, Johnson replied:

I was outraged. I don’t think anyone can view the video and objectively come to any other conclusion but that it was an act of murder. And I felt that initially, as everyone did and it’s so disturbing. And, you know, the underlying issues beneath that are something that the country is now struggling with. And I think it’s something we have to look at very soberly and with a lot of empathy. And I’m glad to see that’s happening around the country.

He expanded on that thought later in the interview:

You know, what it’s taught me is we now have four other children of our own. And my oldest son, Jack, ironically, this year is 14. And I’ve thought often through all these ordeals over the last couple of weeks about the difference in the experiences between my two 14-year-old sons, Michael being a black American and Jack being white Caucasian. They have different challenges. My son Jack has an easier path. He just does. The interesting thing about both of these kids, Michael and Jack, is they’re both handsome, articulate, really talented kids, gifted by God to do lots of things. But the reality is and no one can tell me otherwise, my son Michael had a harder time than my son Jack is going to have simply because of the color of his skin. And that’s a reality. It’s an uncomfortable, painful one to acknowledge, but people have to recognize that’s a fact.

“What should we do about that?” inquired Isaacson.

“I think that we need we really do need systematic change. I think we need transformative solutions,” offered Johnson.

Those comments did not sit well with some on the right.

The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh shared the video and captioned it “full clip of the new GOP speaker saying that George Floyd was murdered and we need systemic changes to fix the racism in our country.”

Walsh also characterized Johnson’s comments as a “full fledged endorsement of the Left’s racial narrative.”

“It’s even worse than it looks when you see the full context. He went on PBS a week after George Floyd’s overdose and called it an ‘outrage’ and ‘objectively an act of murder,’ and then went on to fully endorse BLM’s talking points and policy prescriptions,” he continued. “Completely disqualifying. Every conservative celebrating this guy needs to watch this interview.”

Social media influencer and Substack writer Pedro Gonzalez, meanwhile, complained that “the new GOP House speaker has completely internalized left-wing racial libel about white supremacy and privilege.”

Laura Loomer, a far-right activist close to the Trump campaign, also complained about Johnson’s views on race.

“‘MAGA MIKE’ ❤️s drug addict George Floyd. Turns out there’s no difference between MAGA MIKE and Big Mike! Is he an undercover Democrat?” asked Loomer.

“What type of MAGA republican says something like this? George Floyd was a drug addict and a criminal. Yet the new Speaker of the House said his heart broke for George Floyd. I’m really MAGA. You know who my heart breaks for?Derek Chauvin. Derek Chauvin is an innocent man. He was sacrificed to appease the violent BLM mob that was enabled by liars like Mike Johnson,” she continued.

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