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MEMO: Messaging Guidance On Speaker Mike Johnson

INTERESTED PARTIES MEMORANDUM

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To:           Interested Parties
From:       Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
Date:        October 25, 2023
RE:           Messaging Guidance on Speaker Mike Johnson
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House Republicans may be breathing a short-sighted sigh of relief now that they’ve elected a new Speaker, but their decision to elevate an anti-abortion extremist who has pushed to gut Social Security and Medicare and who was one of the main architects of the illegal attempt to overturn the 2020 election will lose them their Majority in 2024. Let’s be clear: Speaker Johnson is nothing more than Jim Jordan in a sports coat.

Messaging Guidance 

  • Speaker Johnson is nothing more than Jim Jordan in a sports coat. He may be a new face to many, but he espouses the same type of extremism that has led – and will continue to lead – to the downfall of the Republican House Majority.

  • Rather than electing a Speaker who will advance legislation that lowers costs and makes life easier for working families, so-called “moderate” House Republicans have chosen to elect an anti-abortion extremist and top election denier to lead their conference.

  • The so-called “moderate” House Republicans voted for this extremist and allowed him to become Speaker – proving that there are no more moderates left in the Republican conference capable of standing up to the far-right.

  • We know that House Republicans – led by Johnson – will push for a total abortion ban with zero exceptions, raising the retirement age and denying seniors their hard-earned benefits from Social Security and Medicare.

  • Just as former Speaker McCarthy forced vulnerable Republicans to take detrimental votes that will cause them to lose their jobs, Johnson will similarly prioritize extreme legislation that pushes fringe policies over fighting for the middle class.

Speaker Mike Johnson’s Extreme Record
Every vulnerable Republican will now be tied to Speaker Johnson’s extreme record, including:

  1. Johnson has championed a total abortion ban with no exceptions for rape, incest, or life of the woman and voted for legislation that would punish doctors for providing reproductive care to patients.

  2. As a former Chair of the Republican Study Committee, Johnson is on the record for slashing Social Security and Medicare, programs that seniors have paid into and rely on.

  3. Johnson was instrumental in the Stop the Steal effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election, with the New York Times referring to him as “the most important architect of the Electoral College objections.”

Similar to potential Speakers Scalise, Jordan, and Emmer, the DCCC is committed to ensuring that every battleground Member of the Republican conference is tied to Speaker Johnson’s extremism and disastrous legislative record.

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