Officer Michael Fanone Slams Mike Johnson on 100th Day as Speaker
“I defended the Capitol on January 6th and know that unless leaders like Mike Johnson reject the anti-democracy extremism that sparked the insurrection, history could repeat itself.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, former D.C. Police Officer and Courage for America Councilmember Michael Fanone released the following statement on the 100th day of Mike Johnson’s Speakership.
“Instead of standing up for our democracy, Mike Johnson spent his first 100 days as Speaker trying to make it harder for Americans to vote and defending insurrectionists like Elise Stefanik. Speaker Johnson is yet another example of failed leadership – he has failed to condemn those who called January 6th rioters ‘hostages’, has failed to accept the outcome of the 2020 election, and has failed to commit to certifying the 2024 election results. I defended the Capitol on January 6th and know that unless leaders like Mike Johnson reject the anti-democracy extremism that sparked the insurrection, history could repeat itself.”
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
- Johnson continues to deny the legitimacy of the 2020 election, telling Face the Nation in January 2024 that “the Constitution was clearly violated in the 2020 election,” despite repeated court rulings that the elections were conducted appropriately.
- Johnson defended House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik after she referred to January 6th insurrection defendants as “hostages” and refused to commit to voting to certify the 2024 election results.
- In November 2023, Johnson announced that he would release tens of thousands of hours of security footage from the Capitol on January 6th, 2021. Before releasing the footage, Johnson said that his staff needed to “blur some of the faces” of the insurrectionists because “we don’t want them to be retaliated against and to be charged by the DOJ [Department of Justice] and to have other, you know, concerns and problems.”
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