“Pious” Mike Johnson skewered for “all-time low” in claiming Donald Trump’s trial is a sham

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has been slammed for his recent attendance at former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial, where he staunchly defended Trump and called the charges against him a “sham.”

Johnson spoke to the press outside the courthouse and referred to the trial as a “ridiculous prosecution that is not about justice” but rather “all about politics.”

Related: Trump reportedly fell asleep during the first day of his hush money trial

“If Trump is too old and weak to stay awake at his own criminal trial, what do you think will happen in the Situation Room?”

“It’s impossible for anybody to deny, that looks at this objectively, that the judicial system in our country has been weaponized against President Trump,” he said, adding that “everybody around the country” can no doubt see this as a “travesty of injustice.”

Your LGBTQ+ guide to Election 2024

Stay ahead of the 2024 Election with our newsletter that covers candidates, issues, and perspectives that matter.

Daily Weekly Good News

The Associated Press called Johnson’s defense “a remarkable moment in modern American politics: The House speaker amplifying Trump’s defense and turning the Republican Party against the federal and state legal systems that are foundational to the U.S. government and a cornerstone of democracy.”

Johnson reportedly did not actually enter the courtroom to attend the trial but just stopped by to stand outside and rant about why the charges against Trump are a form of “election interference” and a “borderline criminal conspiracy,” as he described it in a speech last week.

In that same speech, he said the entire judicial branch is in jeopardy due to the so-called abuse it has endured under the Biden administration, which he accused of using the powers of the federal government to go after political opponents – something Trump has more or less admitted to doing or considering on multiple occasions.

The Biden administration is weaponizing our justice system to target President Trump.

It's election interference. It’s borderline criminal conspiracy.

American people see right through it. It has to stop. pic.twitter.com/tddKXkeh2C

— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) May 7, 2024

The AP posited Republicans like Johnson are working to cast the trial as political retaliation so that if Trump loses, his supporters will stand with him anyway. Others who have attended the trial include North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R) and Senators JD Vance (R-OH) and Tommy Tuberville (R-AL).

At one point in his speech outside the courthouse, Johnson said he was working with Reps. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and James Comer (R-KY) to “rein in the abuses” of Jack Smith, the special counsel for the United States Department of Justice who indicted Trump.

In response, journalist Ahmed Baba pointed out: “The Republican Speaker of the House is openly declaring that he’s working with fellow Republican lawmakers to interfere in active criminal proceedings to protect the presumptive Republican nominee. Blatant corruption in broad daylight.”

The Republican Speaker of the House is openly declaring that he’s working with fellow Republican lawmakers to interfere in active criminal proceedings to protect the presumptive Republican nominee. Blatant corruption in broad daylight. https://t.co/krab9U5JIs

— Ahmed Baba (@AhmedBaba_) May 14, 2024

Former Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney also called out Johnson’s appearance at the courthouse. She wrote on X that she’s “surprised” he “wants to be in the ‘I cheated on my wife with a porn star’ club.”

“I guess he’s not that concerned with teaching morality to our young people after all,” she mocked, no doubt referring to Johnson’s extreme religious values that have also caused his vehement anti-LGBTQ+ beliefs.

Have to admit I’m surprised that @SpeakerJohnson wants to be in the “I cheated on my wife with a porn star” club. I guess he’s not that concerned with teaching morality to our young people after all. https://t.co/wTHWvA1m85

— Liz Cheney (@Liz_Cheney) May 14, 2024

The Lincoln Project also criticized Johnson for his hypocrisy. “So good of pious Mike Johnson to show support for cheating on your wife with a porn star, paying her hush money to cover it up, and falsifying business records so America doesn’t find out about it before an election,” the group wrote on X.

So good of pious Mike Johnson to show support for cheating on your wife with a porn star, paying her hush money to cover it up, and falsifying business records so America doesn’t find out about it before an election. https://t.co/4dDzvDs0s7

— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) May 14, 2024

Even Marjorie Taylor Greene — a diehard Trump supporter — was not pleased with Johnson’s support of the former President, likely due to her intense hatred of the speaker, whom she recently tried to oust from his position.

“The Speaker of the House should be defunding Jack Smith instead of watching Pres Trump be persecuted by a NY corrupt DA in a politically weaponized judge’s courtroom,” she wrote. “Pathetic.”

The Speaker of the House should be defunding Jack Smith instead of watching Pres Trump be persecuted by a NY corrupt DA in a politically weaponized judge’s courtroom.

Pathetic. https://t.co/Wf7SXfcqIR

— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene