Former President Donald Trump encouraged the House to move past the effort by his ally Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) to oust Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) late Wednesday afternoon.
“I absolutely love Marjorie Taylor Greene. She’s got Spirit, she’s got Fight, and I believe she’ll be around, and on our side, for a long time to come,” Trump said in a Truth Social post on Wednesday, adding, “However, right now, Republicans have to be fighting the Radical Left Democrats, and all the Damage they have done to our Country.”
In a bipartisan vote of 359-43-7, the motion by Greene to have Johnson vacate his seat was tabled. Only 11 Republicans voted in favor of advancing the motion to oust Johnson, while a majority of Democrats joined in thwarting his removal.
Trump shared that the timing was not right for advancing this motion.
“With a Majority of One, shortly growing to three or four, we’re not in a position of voting on a Motion to Vacate. At some point, we may very well be, but this is not the time,” he said.
Greene’s effort to remove Johnson was in reaction to Republicans’ frustration with Johnson’s push for billions of dollars in Ukraine funding as part of the massive national security spending package. Many Republicans expressed concern that international priorities were being given more attention than the United States’s own national security priorities along the southern border.
“Mike Johnson is publicly saying funding Ukraine is now his top priority when less than 7 months ago he was against it,” Greene wrote in a letter in April. “The American people disagree — they believe our border is the only border worth fighting a war over, and I agree with them.”
The former president warned that a speaker ousting would create the perception of “chaos” in the Republican Party and affect election efforts later this year.
“We are leading in the Presidential Polls by a lot, both Nationally and in the Swing States. Likewise, we are doing well in the Senate, and I believe will do well in the House. But if we show DISUNITY, which will be portrayed as CHAOS, it will negatively affect everything!” Trump said.
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Trump called Johnson “a good man who is trying very hard.”
“I also wish certain things were done over the last period of two months, but we will get them done, together. It is my request that Republicans vote for ‘THE MOTION TO TABLE.’ We WILL WIN BIG – AND IT WILL BE SOON!” the former president said to fellow Republicans in his social media post.
