Speaker Mike Johnson’s troubles with donors are dooming Republicans’ election hopes

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) — who was relatively unknown nationwide before becoming speaker late last year — is having trouble attracting political donors. His trouble may hamper the Republican Party’s and former President Joe Biden’s chances leading into the November general election, especially amid reports that Democrats and Biden have raised more cash than the GOP.

“Johnson’s reputation as a devout evangelical Christian who frequently makes biblical references is at odds with the beliefs of some business executives invited to meetings and dinners,” Bloomberg News reported, citing an anonymous “person familiar with GOP fundraising.”

Related: Mike Johnson says God will punish “depraved” U.S. because more teens identify as LGBTQ+

“God is mocked openly in the public square,” he said this past Sunday.

Another anonymous commenter said that the thin Republican House majority and the party’s rule that makes it easy to remove Johnson as speaker have made potential donors wary about investing in his leadership.

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The rule was used to oust former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) in late 2023 after he worked with Democrats to pass a budget, something Johnson has also been accused of doing as well. House Republican infighting has increased recently, especially as Johnson navigates a $1.2 trillion budget proposal that removed many anti-LGBTQ+ “wish list” provisions desired by his party’s far-right members.

“Business likes certainty, so they can look at planning and determine what the return on investment is,” Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT) said. “It seems every day we wake up and we’re not quite sure where the day is going to go.”

Johnson’s donor troubles add to Republicans’ cash difficulties. At the end of February, Donald Trump’s campaign had $33.5 million and Biden’s had $71 million, more than double Trump’s amount. The National Republican Congressional Committee began March with $45.2 million cash on hand, and its Democratic counterpart began the month with $59.2 million. Similarly, the Republican National Committee ended February with $11.3 million in the bank, and the Democratic National Committee ended the month with $26.5 million, according to CNN.

Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC), who chairs the House Republican campaign arm, sympathized with Johnson, saying, “He’s had to jump in. I mean, he had no political operation. He had to build one as we’re going.”

But when Johnson was first elected as speaker, House members openly acknowledged that he would have a difficult time assuming the leadership role.

“We went through five choices, and Mike Johnson’s the fifth choice,” Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) told CBS News. “He has not been around these leadership decisions. He’s had a really tough process.”

“We’ve thrown him into the deepest end of the pool with the heaviest weights around him and trying to teach him how to learn to swim,” McHenry added. “It’s been a rough couple of months.”

Johnson’s extreme Christian Nationalism may also continue turning off donors and voters alike, as recent polls show that voters strongly prefer Biden and oppose anti-LGBTQ+ candidates.

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