Mike Johnson rebuked in blistering home state newspaper column: "Extreme"

Newly-elected Speaker of the House Mike Johnson on Friday was criticized in a blistering op-ed column published by a newspaper in his home state of Louisiana.

Johnson, who has represented districts in Louisiana since 2015, was elected speaker on Wednesday, receiving rare unanimous support from his Republican peers after weeks of turmoil. After Representative Kevin McCarthy of California was removed from the office by a floor vote on a motion to vacate, the House GOP struggled to find a candidate who could muster the needed votes from the polarized caucus. Representatives Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Jim Jordan of Ohio failed to reach 217 votes on the floor, while Representative Tom Emmer of Minnesota dropped out only hours after being named speaker-designee.

While Johnson received the vote of every House Republican and has been hailed as a more level-headed GOP leader, critics have taken strong exception to his views on issues like abortion and gay marriage, among other things, and his involvement in former President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. In addition to voting against the certification of the election results, Johnson spread numerous false claims about voter fraud during public appearances, echoing conspiracies about Dominion-produced voting machines that landed Fox News in legal trouble.

On Friday, Stephanie Grace, a reporter for Louisiana's largest daily newspaper, The Advocate, published an op-ed column about Johnson, titled "Mike Johnson's soft touch masks hard-line views," deriding his "ability to put a friendly and legalistic face on some extreme opinions," and his active hand in the efforts to contest the last presidential election.