Mike Johnson Tried to Help Donald Trump Steal an Election. He’s Now Speaker of the House

Undemocratic Speaker • Trump Cronies Flip • Phillips’s New Whip? [View in your browser]( | [Update your preferences](newsletter=vf) [Vanity Fair Hive logo image]( Mike Johnson Tried to Help Donald Trump Steal an Election. He’s Now Speaker of the House Good morning from the Hive newsroom. We waited and waited and waited, and, well, folks, we finally have a Speaker of the House. Abigail Tracy [calls]( Louisiana representative Mike Johnson a Goldilocks of the GOP conference, who is “equipped with all the right-wing bona fides but lacking the bombastic bluster.” Of note: Johnson spent a lot of time in 2020 and 2021 trying to overturn Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss. But, as Bess Levin [observes](, he’d rather not discuss the lengths he went to. On the election-interference beat, Caleb Ecarma [catches news]( that former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows has reportedly flipped on the ex-president in Jack Smith’s federal case. Plus, Eric Lutz has [the latest]( on Democrat Dean Phillips’s long-shot presidential bid, which may or may not be sporting an official campaign bus. Thanks for reading. [mike johnson ]( [Mike Johnson Tried to Help Donald Trump Steal an Election. He’s Now Speaker of the House]( By [Abigail Tracy]( [The little-known Louisiana representative was a key player in the former president’s 2020 efforts, is staunchly antiabortion, and assumes the gavel without much leadership experience. Can he really quell the GOP chaos?]( [Read more button](   [Mike Johnson Would Rather Not Discuss His Robust Attempts to Overturn the 2020 Election]( By [Bess Levin]( [In addition to trying to block Joe Biden from becoming president, Johnson is also antiabortion and anti-LGBTQ+.]( [Read more button](   [Donald Trump’s 2020 Cronies Appear to Be Ditching Him One by One]( By [Caleb Ecarma]( [Mark Meadows has reportedly flipped in Jack Smith’s election-interference case, while ex-Trump attorneys Jenna Ellis, Kenneth Chesebro, and Sidney Powell have all struck plea bargains in Georgia.]( [Read more button](   [Dean Phillips Apparently Has a Campaign Bus. Will He Throw Joe Biden Under It?]( By [Eric Lutz]( [The low-profile Democrat, who has expressed major concerns about the president’s age, seems poised to announce a 2024 bid—that might put a 77-year-old Republican back in the White House.]( [Read more button](   [Mike Johnson Said Same-Sex Marriage Would Lead to People Marrying Their Pets, Wanted to Sentence Abortion Doctors to “Hard Labor”]( By [Bess Levin]( [He also supported criminalizing gay sex between consenting adults.]( [Read more button](   Get on the list Subscribe to our Hollywood newsletter for your essential industry and awards-season news, every day. [Sign Up Now](   [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [LinkedIn](   This e-mail was sent to you by The Hive. To ensure delivery to your inbox (not bulk or junk folders), please add our e-mail address, vanityfair@newsletter.vf.com, to your address book. View our [Privacy Policy]( [Unsubscribe]( Sent from Condé Nast, 1 World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007 Copyright © 2023 Condé Nast