Speaker Mike Johnson’s Unprecedented Ties to Christian Nationalism

Rep. Jared Huffman
1 min readJan 12, 2024

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A man holds up a bible in the Capitol Rotunda during January 6 insurrection. P/C Ashley Gilbertson/VII/Redux

Since Mike Johnson was elected as Speaker, much has been written about his deep religious faith. We respect, celebrate, and treasure his right — and the right of every American — to freely practice his faith as guaranteed by the First Amendment. Although new information continues to surface virtually every day about Speaker Johnson’s record on religious freedom and church-state separation, what we already know is troubling and alarming. Speaker Johnson is deeply connected in political practice and philosophy to Christian Nationalism, more so than any other Speaker in American history.

In November 2023, given our mutual interests in religious freedom, the CFC invited Speaker Johnson to engage in a dialogue about an agenda for protecting religious freedom and tolerance in America. Unfortunately, the Speaker declined our invitation, leaving us no choice but to undertake our own investigation of his pronouncements and actions to better understand his public program.

The CFC compiled our findings into a White Paper, which identifies key unanswered questions to which the public deserves a response, and it provides a framework for the CFC and congressional allies to confront Speaker Johnson’s extremist agenda.

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