Trump-backed Mike Johnson elected House speaker after 22 days - live

Former president Donald Trump shared private texts between himself and short-lived Speaker of the House hopeful Congressman Chuck Fleischmann on Truth Social.

The text said the following:

“I’m in speaker race now

Please tell President Trump

Thanks

Five left

Voting now

All candidates now 100 percent trump

All 5

I preached Trump in my speech”

President Joe Biden on Wednesday said he is not concerned that newly installed House Speaker Mike Johnson will attempt to unlawfully block him from serving a second term if he wins next year’s presidential election.

Mr Biden was asked about the possibility during a press conference alongside Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in the White House Rose Garden, just minutes after the House’s Republican majority voted unanimously to install Mr Johnson as successor to ousted former speaker Kevin McCarthy after a chaotic 22-day interregnum.

The Louisiana congressman was a staunch supporter of former president Donald Trump during the ex-president’s attempt to remain in office despite having lost the 2020 election. He frequently promoted outlandish conspiracy theories about non-existent voter fraud and rigged voting machines which Trump allies had floated to explain his loss, and marshalled House GOP support for a failed lawsuit that sought to have the US Supreme Court throw out electoral votes from swing states won by Mr Biden.

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President Joe Biden told reporters he is not worried that Mr Johnson’s record presages how the new Speaker will act if he is in office when the 2024 election is certified following another victory over Mr Trump, who is currently the likely GOP presidential nominee despite facing more than 90 felony charges in four separate jurisdictions.

“Just like I was not worried about the last guy being able to overturn the election,” said the president, who added that Mr Trump’s legal team had a losing record of “about 60 lawsuits” during the period between the November 2020 election and 6 January 2021, the day a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol in hopes of thwarting certification of the results.

“I understand the Constitution,” he added.

Watch the moment a democrat representative celebrates her wife in an apparent rebuke to Mike Johnson’s anti-LGBT+ record during the vote for House speaker.

Angie Craig, the Democratic representative from Minnesota’s 2nd congressional district wished her wife “a happy wedding anniversary” at the fourth vote for the speakership.

Ms Craig is the first openly LGBT+ mother in the United States House of Representatives.

The remarks are seemingly a response to Trump-backed Mike Johnson’s long-running anti-LGBTQ record in Congress.

Mr Johnson was elected House speaker on Wednesday, 25 October, after 22 days since the removal of Kevin McCarthy.

House Republicans overwhelmingly elected Rep Mike Johnson (R-LA) to be the next speaker of the House after 22 days where the House of Representatives had no leader amid turmoil across the globe and the need to pass spending bills next month.

Mr Johnson, the former deputy whip for House Republicans, won 220 votes on the floor after House Republicans coalesced around him on Tuesday evening. His ascent came after House Majority Whip Tom Emmer dropped out a mere four hours after the House Republican conference nominated him to be speaker.

Republicans from all factions of the conference cheered Mr Johnson and whistled on the floor, chanting his name.

After conservatives, led by former president Donald Trump, revolted against Mr Emmer, he removed himself from the running and after another contest, Mr Johnson emerged victorious.

A former attorney for the Alliance Defending Freedom, Mr Johnson is considered an arch-social conservative staunchly opposed to abortion. Earlier this year, he introduced legislation that would have made it illegal to transport a person under the age of 18 across state lines to obtain an abortion without parental notification.

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Rep Mike Johnson is an ardent opponent of LGBTQ+ rights. In response, Rep Angie Craig (D-MN), the first openly gay mother in Congress, said “Happy anniversary to my wife,” before casting her vote for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

In addition, in December 2020, Mr Johnson, a lawyer by trade, filed an amicus brief on behalf of himself and 125 other House Republicans for a lawsuit filed by Texas to overturn the election results in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin and Michigan.

Despite his hard-right bent, many Republicans from swing districts cast their vote for him on the floor enthusiastically.

The vote came 22 days after the ouster of former speaker Kevin McCarthy after Rep Matt Gaetz (R-FL) filed a motion to vacate the chair, which triggered a non-confidence vote. That in turn triggered a three-week frenzy to find a new speaker.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan then faced off to become the nominee, but as soon as Mr Scalise beat Mr Jordan, arch-conservatives rebelled and pledged to oppose Mr Scalise on the floor, which led to him removing himself from the running.

In response, Republicans nominated Mr Jordan, who failed after three votes last week before Republicans voted in a secret ballot to drop him.

Mr Johnson now faces numerous challenges leading the House. The House must pass some kind of spending bill before 17 November to keep the government open. In the same respect, Republicans and Democrats hope to pass a bill to provide aid to Israel, while many Republicans oppose a supplemental package to aid Ukraine.

Former president Donald Trump shared private texts between himself and short-lived Speaker of the House hopeful Congressman Chuck Fleischmann on Truth Social.

The texts claimed that all of the GOP Speaker hopefuls were backing Mr Trump, according to Fox Chattanooga.

Mr Fleischmann was among six candidates who were under consideration for House speaker after Majority Whip Tom Emmer exited the race on Tuesday.

The House Republicans ultimately tossed their support behind Congressman Mike Johnson of Louisiana. Mr Fleischmann was among those who publicly backed Mr Johnson, writing on Twitter that he would be a “great and strong Speaker of the House” and that he would vote for him when his name goes to the floor for a vote.

About an hour before Mr Fleischmann made the tweet, Mr Trump shared an image of a text the congressman reportedly sent him.

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