According to reports, House Speaker Mike Johnson has apologized to President Joe Biden for rolling his eyes during the president’s impassioned State of the Union address in March.
According to Breitbart News, Johnson’s office did not deny his apology when they asked for comment.
The apology is the newest disclosure indicating that Johnson may align more with the establishment and elites of Washington, DC, rather than with the voters who elected him to Congress and the Republican conference.
Just last week, Biden outmaneuvered Johnson by enabling Democrats to take control of the House, paving the way for Biden’s agenda to move smoothly through Congress.
It was a sore reminder of how Republicans often decline to use their capacity to push conservative policies popular with the base. Democrats, in contrast, often appear to use their power without qualms.
Johnson’s affinity with Biden appears to have begun shortly after he became speaker. In March, Johnson apologized to Biden for rolling his eyes at Biden’s far-left agenda, Real Clear Politics reporter Philip Wegmann reported.
Biden accepted Johnson’s apology and offered him an olive branch for not ripping up his speech as former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) famously did to former President Donald Trump.
As reported by Real Clear Politics reporter Philip Wegmann:
This past March, Johnson felt he owed Biden an apology. Seated just over the president’s shoulder during the State of the Union address, the speaker couldn’t mask his expressions of exhaustion and exasperation as Biden laid into Republicans.
The two next met on Capitol Hill for the Friends of Ireland luncheon where Johnson toasted Biden as “America’s most famous Irishman.” On loan from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, his pint glass was the same one Reagan used during a 1984 visit to Ireland. The Guinness the Southern Baptist speaker drank was non-alcoholic.
Johnson pulled Biden aside to “apologize for the eye-roll memes that went around the world.” The president laughed, then told the speaker he was glad Johnson was better behaved than Nancy Pelosi had been during the speeches of his predecessor: “I’m just grateful you didn’t rip my speech up.”
The speaker replied, “Well, Mr. President, don’t think my friends back home didn’t want me to light it on fire.”
Share your thoughts by scrolling down to leave a comment.
