House Speaker Mike Johnson has reportedly told Republicans to “stand down” as they seek to pursue incumbent Republicans in contentious primaries in a bid to quell divisions within the party. He says he is telling them.
Johnson, R-Louisiana, attended the annual banquet for House Republicans last week at the Greenbrier Resort in White Sulfur Springs, West Virginia, and attended the annual banquet for House Republicans, including South Carolina, Illinois, Texas; As at least four sitting Republicans in Congress, he brought together an often fraught Congress. Virginia will face a Republican challenger.
“I asked everyone to remain calm,” Johnson told CNN during the retreat. “I am firmly opposed to the behavior of members of Congress in primaries, because it is not productive. And we should not engage in it, because it is divisive for obvious reasons. .”
Johnson has overcome a series of legislative hurdles that have divided the Republican Party, including how to provide military aid to Ukraine, how to complete government funding and how to reauthorize federal surveillance programs. I’m trying to figure out how to lead it, and I’m trying to claim it all. Voters should re-elect the Republican House majority.
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Speaker Johnson is reportedly asking Republicans to stop pursuing incumbents in an effort to mend recent divisions. (AP/J. Scott Applewhite)
“So I’m telling everyone who’s doing that to stop doing it,” Johnson said, referring to challenges to incumbents within the Republican Party. “And both sides will say, ‘We didn’t start it, they started it.'”
Johnson received the House speaker’s gavel late last year after former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was ousted from office in a historic move that left the Republican Party deeply divided and dysfunctional.
Johnson attended the House Republicans’ annual dinner in West Virginia last week. (Getty Images)
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Johnson told Fox News Digital last week that he wants to remain in House Republican control next year, regardless of whether they maintain their House majority.
Johnson told Fox News Digital last week that he wants to remain the House Republican leader next year. (AP Photo/Patrick Semanski, File)
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“I’m busy with my own responsibilities at the moment, so I’m not thinking too much about the next parliament,” Johnson said. “My intention is to continue to provide leadership as a speaker, because we are now laying a lot of important groundwork for the great work that lies ahead.”
Fox News’ Elizabeth Elkind and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
