Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) got the better of CBS moderator Margaret Brennan — and perhaps CBS editorial “standards” — in an interview that aired Sunday.
“Back in 2021, you were the lawmaker who circulated the legal brief known as the Texas amicus brief, challenging the 2020 election outcome in a number of states, which by CBS editorial standards makes you an election denier,” Brennan said to Johnson on Face the Nation.
“That’s nonsense,” Johnson calmly replied.
Brennan persisted, “Can I get you on the record on that?”
“I’ve always been consistent on the record,” Johnson said before asking Brennan, “Did you read the brief? Did you get a chance to read what we filed with the Supreme Court?”
“Well, I— I have read extensively some criticisms of that,” Brennan stammered through an awkward smile. “But…”
Margaret Brennan (Screenshot)
“You’ve read commentary on the brief but not what we submitted to the court,” Johnson said.
Johnson led more than 100 Republican lawmakers in an amicus brief supporting a Texas lawsuit that sought to challenge the results of the election in states Biden won. The Texas amicus brief, supported by seventeen other states, was filed to the U.S. Supreme Court in December 2020 and targeted Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin over claims of unconstitutional practices in their respective elections.
The suit argued that the battleground states “violated the Electors Clause of the Constitution because they made changes to voting rules and procedures through the courts or through executive actions, but not through the state legislatures,” as Breitbart News reported: “Additionally, Texas argues that there were differences in voting rules and procedures in different counties within the states, violating the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause. Finally, Texas argues that there were “voting irregularities” in these states as a result of the above.”
Bradley Jaye is a Capitol Hill Correspondent for Breitbart News. Follow him on X/Twitter at @BradleyAJaye.
