'Hypocrisy on steroids': Dem strategist hits Mike Johnson with brutal put-down
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) was torn apart in a blistering attack by fellow Louisianan and Democratic strategist James Carville.
The no-holds-barred attack zeroed in on Johnson’s right-wing Christian nationalism — which Carville said showed a level of “breathtaking hypocrisy.”
“Johnson has no skill, no background, no majority to speak of,” Carville, the Democratic consultant credited with leading Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign, told The Guardian in an article published Saturday.
“What Johnson does represent is a level of breathtaking hypocrisy. His anti-homosexuality and young earthism are hypocrisy on steroids.”
Johnson is a fundamentalist Christian who subscribes to “young earthism” — the creationist view that the earth is 6,000 years old — and right-wing religious opinions.
He won the speakership last month after rounds of Republican infighting sank the hopes of other House GOPers, including Jim Jordan (OH).
Carville, a practicing Catholic, has challenged the speaker to debate him at Louisiana Christian University, a Southern Baptist school in their state. He says Christian nationalism goes against the core of the faith.
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"The greatest distinction in the world is between patriotism, which is positive – a piece of ground as an idea – and nationalism, which is tribal, exclusionary and, yeah, poisonous," he said.
He added, “The debate I want begins: ‘Resolved, Christian nationalism is a greater threat to America than al-Qaida,’” he said. “I want students to see real debate and make up their own minds about what kind of America we want."
“The essence of Trumpism is that politics has run over you,” Carville added. “I understand why people feel that – the idea of loss, what people once had. In the church, we’re seeing a real defense of power in reaction to the hypocrisy and rottenness that’s been exposed. So the right wing doubles down.”