Rep. Tim Burchett, Republican of Tennessee, has but to make up his thoughts about who he’ll again for speaker when the 119th Congress convenes on Friday.
However he did have some variety phrases to say about present Speaker Mike Johnson, whose speakership is likely to be in peril amid uproar from GOP hardliners who’re indignant on the Louisiana Republican for compromising with Democrats to preserve the federal government funded.
“Mike’s been a good friend to me and there is nobody more honest that I have dealt with in Washington. He is a fine Christian man, not a religious man, he is a Christian man. He doesn’t cheat on his wife and I find that very appealing in Washington, D.C.,” he mentioned on Fox Information, admitting that he thinks Johnson will stay speaker.
Burchett’s remark seems to be a dig at former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who withdrew his title from the 2015 speaker race amid rumors that he was having an affair with a Republican congresswoman. Finally turning into speaker in 2023, McCarthy was ousted only a few months into his time period by eight Republicans, one being Burchett.
However Burchett’s remark can also be ironic, as he continues to help serial adulterer Donald Trump, who has had three marriages and is accused of getting affairs throughout all of them, together with his present marriage to Melania Trump.
Trump allegedly had a number of affairs only a few months after Melania gave delivery to their son Barron. Two of his affairs had been with Playboy mannequin Karen McDougal and porn actress Stormy Daniels—to whom Trump paid hush cash throughout his 2016 marketing campaign, resulting in Trump’s conviction on 34 counts for falsifying enterprise data to hide funds to those ladies.
What’s extra, Trump nominated a number of individuals to his upcoming administration who’ve admitted to having affairs.
Pete Hegseth, Trump’s decide for secretary of protection, admitted that he had a number of affairs throughout his earlier marriage. Hegseth’s personal mom despatched him an e mail slamming him for his adulterous conduct, writing that she had “no respect” for him as a result of he “belittles, lies, cheats, sleeps around, and uses women for his own power and ego.”
Equally, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had dozens of affairs, that are chronicled in a diary.
As for Johnson, his Christian religion and lack of obvious affairs nonetheless may not be sufficient to save lots of his speakership. As Axios reported, though Trump endorsed Johnson’s speakership, the GOP hardliners are usually not swayed.
“I respect and support President Trump, but his endorsement of Mike Johnson is going to work out about as well as his endorsement of Speaker Paul Ryan,” Rep. Thomas Massie, Republican of Kentucky, wrote on X. “We’ve seen Johnson partner with the democrats to send money to Ukraine, authorize spying on Americans, and blow the budget.”
As the way forward for Johnson’s speakership hangs within the steadiness, so, it might seem, does the GOP’s willingness to do something for Trump.
