House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., meets with reporters at the Capitol on Tuesday. J. Scott Applewhite / AP

3 weeks ago Representative Mike Johnson, a republican from Louisiana, was given the House Speakership by the elected Republican representatives in the House.

Johnson is a relatively unknown figure, prior to his speakership, playing more of a background role for the Republican Party as a lawmaker. However, he is known by former president Donald Trump, and was a key supporter of overturning the election results in 2020.

Johnson has gone on record many times declaring the 2020 election a fraudulent event in the United States and unrelenting in his support of Trump.

The Louisianan has also gone on record during many speeches in his career stating his belief that Roe v Wade was “the worst Supreme Court opinion” and supports a nation wide abortion ban with zero exemptions.

The man is a fervent believer that the Earth is 6,000 years old, that homosexuality is a sin, abortion is “murder”, and that the 2020 election was rigged in President Joe Biden’s favor. No amount of evidence has been able to change his mind, calling any objection to what he believes a matter of “opinion” and subjective. He has made it clear that he believes the climate crisis is a hoax created by his political opponents and that the COVID Pandemic was manufactured by China as a grand conspiracy against the United States.

Despite there being no evidence to support these notions, and in fact in many cases being disproved, Mike Johnson refuses to back down from his claims.

Now, with an election denialist in the third highest position of power in the United States, the question is how he will behave in an official capacity during the 2024 elections, especially if Donald Trump were to lose again. Many suspect that he may attempt to use his position to put Trump into the presidency, though Biden doesn’t seem to be concerned with his ascension to the speakership.

“As I said when this process began, whoever the speaker is, I will seek to work with them in good faith on behalf of the American people.” President Biden said in an official statement on the election of Johnson as House Speaker. 

Since there is no way of knowing what the future holds for America or the world, the American people must be vigilant and hold their elected officials accountable and make their voices heard in elections. We can’t know what Johnson will or will not do with his speakership, but America must be prepared for anything, as Speaker Johnson is an unpredictable member of the far-right wing Freedom Caucus and a stalwart supporter of Donald Trump and cannot be trusted.