Speaker Mike Johnson joked that he spends half his time as a “mental health counselor” trying to assuage the concerns of his notoriously free-spirited and hard-to-please Republican conference.
“I spend half my day as speaker of the House, the other half as a mental health counselor,” Johnson told Louisiana radio station Mike and McCarty on Tuesday.
The speaker had been asked if he and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., had “kissed and made up” after she made a motion to remove him from the speakership.
“Oh, geez,” Johnson joked.
“I don’t bear any grudges. You know, I don’t keep track. I walked up to her right after her ridiculous tirade and said, “You know what? We’re always going to work together.”‘
Speaker Mike Johnson joked that he spends half his time as a “mental health counselor” trying to assuage the concerns of his notoriously free-spirited and hard-to-please Republican conference.
Johnson had spent hours giving Greene a private audience to air her grievances after she threatened to call a vote to oust him, but in the end it was all for naught: the Republican filed his resignation motion.
Johnson avoided suffering the fate of former President Kevin McCarthy: Democrats voted to table, or reject, the motion and his job was saved.
In an interview with DailyMail.com in November, McCarthy had some advice for his successor: “Get a psychiatrist for a lot of these members.”
And seven months into his term as president, Johnson also highlighted the difficulties of the job.
“I mean, Speaker of the House in the modern era has almost impossible reach. It takes 24 hours every day. I haven’t had a break since October 25. I haven’t been alone since October 25, you know, it’s a full-time thing. I’m not complaining,” he said.
The speaker also accused Chuck Schumer of “trying to have it both ways” on Israel and tore into Sec. Pete Buttigieg on electric vehicles.
“I’m a big supporter of Israel, as everyone knows, because I think we have many reasons and obligations to do so, but Chuck Schumer tried to have it both ways,” said the speaker, adding that Schumer gave in and agreed. to invite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress.
“I bluffed last week,” Johnson said of Schumer. “I said I would invite Netanyahu myself and ignore him.”
Johnson turned to Biden’s green energy policy, which he said “fuels Vladimir Putin’s war machine,” and said he doesn’t even believe Biden knows what he’s doing.
“Every time you suspend exports of liquefied natural gas off the coast of Louisiana and Texas, which Joe Biden did by executive order, you force Europe and all of our allies in other parts of the world to turn to Vladimir Putin to get their natural gas I mean, it’s just absolute madness.
“I looked at President Biden and said, ‘Why would you do that?’ He looked at me as if he didn’t realize it. I think they give him executive orders to sign and he doesn’t even understand the implications.
Johnson said Buttigieg “was embarrassed” on CBS’s Face the Nation this weekend when asked why the $7.5 billion in the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure bill earmarked for Electric vehicle charging programs have so far produced only “seven or eight” charging stations.
“(Buttigieg) smiles and says ‘oh, it’s very complicated,’ I mean give me a break,” Johnson said.
The speaker had been asked if he and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., had “kissed and made up” after she made a motion to remove him from the speakership. “Oh, geez,” Johnson joked
“This mess of this radical green energy program is madness,” the speaker continued.
Faced with the unimpressive number of charging stations, Buttigieg reiterated to CBS’ Margaret Brennan that Biden wants to build 500,000 stations by 2030.
“Now, to make a charger, you don’t just plug a small device into the ground,” the secretary said. “There is work in public services, and this is also a new category of federal investment. But we work with all 50 states.
“But seven or eight? » said host Margaret Brennan with a laugh.
“Again, by 2030, 500,000 chargers,” Buttigieg said. “And the very first handful of chargers are already being physically built.”
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