In response to Speaker MAGA Mike Johnson saying he has no regrets about his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results and would do “the exact same thing today,” DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd released the following statement: 

“MAGA Mike Johnson was a key architect of Donald Trump’s Big Lie – and he clearly has no regrets about the nightmare he built for American democracy. Johnson has repeatedly attempted to whitewash the violence on January 6 and props up Trump’s baseless election denial conspiracies at every opportunity. Now he’s saying he’d do the ‘exact same thing again.’ It’s never been clearer that our democracy is on the ballot this November, and Trump and his MAGA minions have no respect for it.”

NEW: Speaker MAGA Mike Johnson said he does not regret his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results – and said he would do the “exact same thing today.”

Ryan Lizza, Politico: “One of the biggest sources of friction in the country is the aftermath of the 2020 election and January 6th. Do you have any regrets about the role that you played after the 2020 presidential election, including the amicus brief in support of Texas’ lawsuit challenging the election results?”

Johnson: “No, I don’t. … you asked me if I regret that? I don’t. I would do the exact same thing today if the circumstances were presented.”

Lizza: “So if you were speaker on January 6, 2021, would you have done anything differently?”

Johnson: “I don’t know. … I’m not sure what I would have done at that point.”

REMINDER: Johnson was a key “architect” of the effort to overturn the 2020 election results.

Washington Post: “Johnson played one of the most significant roles of any member of Congress in the effort to overturn the election.”

HuffPost: “Johnson, a former lawyer, led an amicus brief signed by over 100 Republican members of Congress backing a flawed Texas lawsuit that asked the Supreme Court to overturn the 2020 election. He also played a key role in crafting the rationale that many of his GOP colleagues used in justifying their votes to throw out the 2020 election results ― even just hours after the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.”

Johnson urged supporters to “fight” on the morning of January 6 and continues to downplay the riot and prevent those who violently attacked law enforcement from being charged. 

Johnson on January 6, 2021: “We MUST fight for election integrity, the Constitution, and the preservation of our republic! It will be my honor to help lead that fight in the Congress today.”

Louisiana Illuminator: “Johnson, who is close to Trump, did not acknowledge that the people who attacked the Capitol were the president’s supporters. He told a reporter that he thought there was a possibly a ‘big mix of people involved in this.’

“‘I don’t think President Trump is any more responsible for what happened at the Capitol today than the congressmen of Portland are responsible for what happened there,’ said Johnson, referring to some violence that erupted in Oregon over the summer. ‘What caused [the Capitol riot] is the same thing that has caused all the unrest over the last many months.’”

2021: Johnson voted against creating an independent commission to investigate the January 6 attack.

NBC News: “Speaker Mike Johnson says he’s blurring Jan. 6 footage so rioters don’t get charged”

Raw Story: “Mike Johnson says Jan. 6 rioters just ‘happened to be walking through the building’”

Johnson is now pushing repeatedly debunked election denial lies and introducing a bill to ban non-citizens from voting in federal elections – even though it is already illegal.

CNN: “Johnson raises baseless concerns on noncitizen voting”

Washington Post: “Noncitizen voting is rare. Republicans are focusing on it anyway.”

NBC News: “Trump and Mike Johnson zero in on noncitizen voting. It’s already illegal and very rare.”

Associated Press: “Noncitizen voting isn’t an issue in federal elections, regardless of conspiracy theories”

NPR: “Republicans aim to stop noncitizen voting in federal elections. It’s already illegal”

USA Today: “Speaker Mike Johnson said noncitizen voting is a ‘threat.’ The facts say otherwise”

Just this week, Trump also defended his denial of the 2020 election results and refused to commit to accepting the results of this November’s election.

Interviewer: “There have been other close races and men have said, ‘listen, for the betterment of the country, we’re going to move on, we’re going to accept the results of the election.’ Would that have been the right course of action?”

Trump: “No, it would’ve been a terrible thing.”

Interviewer: “Would you accept the results of this election?”

Trump: *refuses to say yes*

Trump is still pushing baseless lies about his loss by over 7 million votes in the 2020 election.

Associated Press: “[Trump] is flooding the airwaves and his social media platform with distortions, misinformation and unfounded conspiracy theories about his defeat.”

NBC News: “Re-litigating the 2020 election, repeating false claims it was stolen and casting aspersions on the security of mail voting remain major fixtures for [Trump] on the stump. … He regularly refers to the 2020 election as ‘rigged’ on his social media channels.”

Associated Press: “Trump, running for the White House for the third time, has signaled that the 2020 election will remain an integral part of his 2024 presidential bid.”

Trump continues to praise and promise pardons for violent January 6 rioters – who he calls “hostages” and “patriots.” 

TIME: “Trump has sought to recast the insurrectionist riot as an act of patriotism. ‘I call them the J-6 patriots,’ Trump tells TIME. When asked whether he would consider pardoning every one of them, he says: ‘Yes, absolutely.’”

​​Washington Post: ​​“Former president Donald Trump on Thursday praised and embraced a woman convicted of defying police orders on the U.S. Capitol grounds on Jan. 6, 2021. … Trump has steadily escalated his advocacy for people charged in the Capitol riot, including by pledging to pardon them if he returns to the White House, praising them as patriots, participating in a recording with Jan. 6 prisoners singing the national anthem, and playing it at his first rally of the 2024 campaign last month.”

The Hill: “Trump describes imprisoned Jan. 6 rioters as ‘hostages’”

Washington Post: “Trump vows pardons, government apology to Capitol rioters if elected”

NBC News: “Former President Donald Trump promised Wednesday night that if he is elected he will pardon a ‘large portion’ of the people convicted of federal offenses for their participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.”

Trump: “January 6, it was the largest crowd I’ve ever spoken to. And they were there proud, they were there with love in their heart. That was an unbelievable — and it was a beautiful day.”

Business Insider: “Then-President Donald Trump didn’t want to specifically call for the Justice Department to prosecute January 6 rioters or forcefully condemn those who stormed the Capitol as unrepresentative of the MAGA movement.”

NBC News: “Trump spoke at a fundraiser for Jan. 6 defendants”

Trump has threatened political violence and promised a “bloodbath” if he loses in November, and he is vowing to be a dictator on “day one” if he wins.

TIME: “Donald Trump Says Political Violence ‘Depends’ on ‘Fairness’ of 2024 Election”

Edward-Isaac Dovere, CNN: “Many people have lost American presidential elections over the last 230 years – Trump is the only one to say about violence if he loses ‘it depends.’”

NBC News: “Trump says there will be a ‘bloodbath’ if he loses the election”

Rolling Stone: “Trump Says There Will Be a ‘Bloodbath’ and Elections Will End if He Isn’t Reelected”

New York Times: “Trump Defends His Warning of a ‘Blood Bath for the Country’”

The Atlantic: “Trump Says He’ll Be a Dictator on ‘Day One’”

Associated Press: “Trump declines to rule out abusing power to seek retribution if he returns to the White House”

Washington Post: “Trump calls political enemies ‘vermin,’ echoing dictators Hitler, Mussolini”

The Guardian: “Donald Trump says he will lock up his political enemies if he is president again.”