Mainstream media should be clear on new Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson’s extensive history of extremism
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Eric Hananoki reports about how a Moms for Liberty chair behind the banning of an Anne Frank book in Florida promoted her efforts an an antisemitic network, TruNews, that warns viewers about “seditious Jews,” “Jewish tyrants,” and how Jewish people “have forsaken God." Jen Pippin is the chair of the Moms for Liberty chapter in Indian River County, Florida. The group recently gave her an award, noting she “stepped up to launch one of the first two Moms for Liberty chapters in the country." The post celebrating Pippin’s award said she “has not only had an enormous impact on her community, she has served at the state level on committees to shape policies and guidelines for school libraries and teachers.” Pippin made national news after she forced a high school to remove Anne Frank's Diary: The Graphic Adaptation from its library because it allegedly had “sexually explicit” content and was “not a true adaptation of the Holocaust.” Media Matters has documented Moms for Liberty’s extremism as the group has gained influence among Republican politicians and in the right-wing media. Moms for Liberty also promoted rhetoric from Adolf Hitler to argue for its mission. During the interview, Pippin impressed TruNews leader Rick Wiles, who told her that he wants to “do everything I can to help you” and said that Moms for Liberty is doing “great work.” |
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Republicans in the House of Representatives have finally elected a new speaker: Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA). Johnson has a long history of extremism; right-wing media will likely try to downplay and normalize him, which puts the onus on mainstream outlets to inform the public about his history. Johnson actually called into Fox News while the January 6 attack was taking place; during the interview, he defended his effort to toss the results in multiple states as “presenting our thoughtful arguments and thoughts about this whole process.” After he was elected speaker, Steve Bannon called him "one of the intellectual architects" of the attempt to overturn the election. In November 2020, Johnson even stated “there is a lot of merit” to the “allegations about these — these voting machines, some of them being rigged with this software by Dominion.” The claims echoed those made on Fox News that led to its record $787 million defamation settlement – but in its coverage of his ascension to speaker, Fox News evening programming ignored Johnson spreading those lies. Johnson has an extensive history of anti-LGBTQ activism. Johnson previously served as senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom , an extreme anti-LGBTQ legal group. During his tenure, Johnson repeatedly argued against a New Orleans effort to extend health insurance benefits to same-sex partners of municipal employees, insinuating that same-sex marriage eventually leads to “taboos” like pedophilia. Johnson also wrote a series of columns calling homosexuality “inherently unnatural,” a “dangerous lifestyle,” and a “bizarre choice,” while also claiming that marriage equality is a “dark harbinger of chaos and sexual anarchy that could doom even the strongest republic." Johnson did an interview with Sean Hannity, and Hannity immediately tried to downplay his history. Johnson has also co-sponsored a bill that would ban abortion nationwide and sued Kentucky for religious discrimination on behalf of Ark Encounter , a creationist theme park. Pro-Russian right-wing media figures are excited by Johnson's recent moves questioning funding for Ukraine. The fact is that Johnson is simply not well known. Americans deserve to be informed about the positions of the person second in line to be president of the United States, and it's on media outlets to lead the way. We'll be keeping an eye on them. Also: Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) spoke to Chris Hayes about how Johnson is "in the Steve Bannon mode" of trying to dismantle democracy. mediamatters.org e-mail of Fri, Oct 27 2023 |
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