‘What’s It Like to Be Compared to the Mullahs of Iran, the Taliban, and the Maine Shooter?’ Speaker Mike Johnson Responds to ‘Disgusting’ Attacks on His Faith
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) responded to a flurry of attacks on his faith in a new interview with Fox News’ Kayleigh McEnany, calling them “disgusting and absurd.”
The interview aired during a segment of Outnumbered Tuesday, with McEnany introducing it by playing a clip of comedian Bill Maher comparing Johnson to the perpetrator of a recent mass shooting in Maine and MSNBC host Jen Psaki’s characterization of him as a “religious fundamentalist.”
“What do you think when you hear that?” McEnany asked Johnson, in reference to Psaki’s comments.
“Look, there are entire industries that are built to take down public leaders, effective political leaders like me. I’m not surprised by that, I mean, it comes with the territory — it doesn’t bother me at all,” replied Johnson. “I just wish they would get to know me. I’m not trying to establish Christianity as the national religion or something. That’s not what this is about at all. If you truly believe in the Bible’s commands and you seek to follow those, it is impossible to be a hateful person, because the greatest command in the Bible is that you love God with everything you have and you love your neighbor as yourself.”
McEnany went on to bring up Maher’s comparison, as well as a Daily Beast article that compared Johnson to Iranian mullahs and the Taliban.
“What is it like to be compared to the mullahs of Iran, the Taliban, and the Maine shooter?” she asked.
Johnson responded this time with considerable indignation:
It’s just disgusting. I mean, that is absurd. Of course, our religion is based on love and acceptance. So to compare that worldview with the Taliban who seek to destroy their enemies or with, you know, some deranged shooter who murders people, is absolutely outrageous. And I think everyone who follows and believes in a Judeo-Christian worldview should be just terribly offended by that. I’m okay, I’ll take the arrows, I understand it comes with leadership. And when you step into the fray, that’s what you take. But what really hurts me is that it really is a statement about everyone who believes in this that the country was built upon. Our Judeo-Christian foundation is the heritage of our country.
After that, McEnany inquired about how those in the political sphere might get past “viewing the other side as the enemy.”
“I mean, look, our enemy is like Hamas and terrorists and tyrants who want to do great harm to our country. Someone who is on the other side of the aisle is is a fellow elected representative of the greatest deliberative body in the world,” offered Johnson. “And they should be treated as such. And even if they have crazy ideas, sometimes, you know, part of the process is that I will be willing to engage with them in a dialogue to to forge consensus that will move the ball forward for the most people.”
Watch above via Fox News.
