House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) commended House Democrat Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) despite being ridiculed by his Republican colleagues for “siding” with the left.
Johnson applauded Jeffries during an interview with Politico, calling him a “good man” and that they have more in common than a lot of people might think.
The Republican, who has faced mounting criticism for pushing a massive billion-dollar Ukraine aid bill, said that Jeffries is a family man and that he finds the Democrat “refreshing” to know that Jeffries is “shooting straight.”
Hakeem is a good man. We’ve worked well together. We have a lot more in common than people might think. You know, he’s from New York and I’m from Louisiana. While we have lots of disagreements on policies and the fine points of policy, I think you can appreciate people for who they are as a person. I think that’s what we’re called to do. And he and I both kind of share the worldview on that. I can appreciate that he’s a good family man. We have a lot in common in that regard. And he lost his father recently, I lost mine three days before I got elected to Congress. We’ve talked about that.
And I think what we’ve appreciated about one another is that I believe that when Hakeem Jeffries is telling me something, I believe he’s telling me the truth. I believe he is a man of his word. And I think he believes that about me as well. That’s a big thing in Washington. You know, trust is a rare commodity around here. Via Politico.
Johnson avoided losing his speakership this week by the skin of his teeth after Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) forced a vote to oust him.
However, his gavel was saved after a group of Democrats refused to vote for Greene’s resolution.
Prior to this week’s vote, Jeffries insisted that he would oppose the motion to vacate Johnson, claiming that Greene’s efforts undermine “the well-being of the American people and prevent us from delivering real and meaningful results on the issues that matter.”
The speaker has been accused of bowing down to the Democratic Party in recent weeks.
A recent Economist/YouGov found that Johnson’s popularity among Democrats is increasing while Republicans’ support for him diminishes.
Twenty-six percent of respondents approved of his job performance, while 35 percent said they were unhappy with Johnson’s time as Speaker. Johnson’s current negative rating is six points higher than it had been in December.
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