'Shut up!' GOP isn't eager to discuss Speaker Mike Johnson's 2020 election reversal efforts

The newly elected House speaker played a key behind-the-scenes role in trying to overturn Donald Trump's loss

House Speaker-designee Mike Johnson ducks a 2020 election question
House Speaker-designee Mike Johnson ducks a 2020 election question
(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/Queen City News)

When House Republicans chose Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) as their fourth speaker nominee in three weeks, a common reaction was: Who? "I googled him, and I know he's from Louisiana," Rep. Jeff Jackson (D-N.C.) told Politico early Wednesday. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) also said she planned to google the four-term congressman. 

After he was elected House speaker on Wednesday, with the backing of all 220 Republicans present, two points became clear: He is a hard-right social conservative, backing a no-exception national ban on abortion and vociferously opposed to LGBTQ rights; and he was a leading advocate for trying to overturn Donald Trump's loss in the 2020 election, as Politico and The Washington Post detailed Wednesday.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.