Newt Gingrich praised House Republicans for electing Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) as the chamber’s newest Speaker, noting that he’s a generation younger than the leaders in the Senate and President Joe Biden and will bring vigor to the office.
Gingrich, himself a former Speaker, told Fox News host Sean Hannity that Johnson is a solid conservative who takes a moderate approach to how he deals with other lawmakers.
“I thought he’s a very solid person. He has very solid values. He’s deeply religious. He has a great family. And I think that we’re going to discover that what he combines, which is really very important, is a solid conservative set of principles with a very moderate and reasonable approach to people so that he can actually unify people across ideological boundaries,” Gingrich began.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing how he works, because what he said today was almost perfect,” Gingrich continued, referencing Johnson’s victory speech. “He wants the committee chairmen to play bigger roles, he wants to decentralize so every member has a greater role to play.
“He sees himself as the coordinator of the whole House, not as a person who’s going to dominate the House, and he’s very, very smart. Everyone I’ve talked to today who knows him well is really impressed with his integrity, his philosophy, and how smart he is,” Gingrich continued.
“I think what you’re going to find is, first of all, Speaker Johnson understands that. He referred to it today. He understands from his many friends back in Shreveport that life is hard,” he told Hannity. “This isn’t about the Washington lobbyists, Washington bureaucrats, the billionaires. This is about everyday folks in Shreveport, Louisiana.
“And I think, as I saw [House Majority Whip] Steve Scalise (R-La.) today was delighted to be introducing the Louisiana Speaker of the House, I think you’re going to see that Mike Johnson is going to, in fact, focus on the human elements of how do we help real people, whether it’s gasoline prices, grocery prices, bringing down the cost of living, bringing down the inflation rate, getting back to a reasonable mortgage level,” Gingrich added.
“This guy is 51. Now, that means that the head of the Senate, the head of the Senate Republicans, and the President, are all a generation older than he is. And I think that level of energy and youth and family orientation with his four children, I think all that’s going to play very well in the country,” he continued.
“And I think that if he does truly distribute power to the committee chairs and allow the members to talk among themselves, you’re going to find that he could potentially do a remarkable job over the next year and a half,” said Gingrich.
