House Speaker Mike Johnson at the Capitol on January 9, 2024.
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images
House Speaker Mike Johnson was asked whether he believes Biden’s presidency was “God’s will.”He said that as a “Bible-believing Christian” he believes it “must have been God’s will.”But he also said he looks forward to “regime change” in 2024.
At the House GOP leadership’s weekly press conference on Wednesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson was asked whether he believes Joe Biden’s presidency was “God’s will.”
Johnson, an evangelical Christian whose religious views have been scrutinized more than prior speakers, greeted the question with some humor: “I know where you’re going with this.”
The Louisiana Republican went on to expound on his religious views, noting that he’s a “Bible-believing Christian” who believes that “God is sovereign.”
“So, if you believe all those things, then you believe that God is the one that allows people to be raised in authority,” he said, adding of Biden’s presidency: “It must have been God’s will then.”
Q: “Do you believe that Joe Biden’s presidency is God’s will?”
.@SpeakerJohnson: “Oh, I know where you’re going with this…It must have been God’s will then. That’s my belief…I think we’re going to make a much better choice as a country coming up in this election cycle.” pic.twitter.com/kjrJWJHfv4
— CSPAN (@cspan) January 17, 2024
Johnson, a vocal backer of former President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign, then pivoted toward the presidential election later this year.
“A nation makes a decision collectively because we’re given the free will to do that,” said Johnson. “And I think we’re going to make a much better choice as a country coming up in this election cycle.”
“We’re very much looking forward to that regime change,” he added.
The phrase “regime change” is generally understood to refer to the forcible overthrow of an existing government through anti-democratic means.
Johnson notably referred to “free will” and “choice” in his response, indicating that he was referring to a democratic election.
Yet his use of the term may raise eyebrows given some Republicans’ use of the phrase “regime” — a term with negative connotations — to describe the Biden presidency, as well as Johnson’s own central role in organizing congressional opposition to the certification of electoral votes in 2020.
Johnson was among the 147 congressional Republicans who voted against certifying some electors on January 6, 2021.
Furthermore, Trump has in recent years made numerous statements suggesting his second term may be dictatorial or authoritarian in nature, including calling for the “termination” of the US Constitution in 2022 and saying on numerous occasions that he would be a dictator on “day one” of his second presidency.