‘He is Not a Lame Duck!’ Mike Johnson Claims Failure of Trump Pressure Campaign in Indiana Redistricting Is ‘Inconsequential’
(Francis Chung/POLITICO via AP Images)
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) emphasized Friday that the Republican failure to secure President Donald Trump’s redistricting plan in Indiana was not indicative of a loss of power leading up to the midterm elections.
CNN’s Manu Raju caught up with Johnson in the halls of Congress and asked, “Are you worried about Trump’s grip on power after Indiana? Do you think it shows he’s a lame duck?”
“Not at all!” Johnson snapped back. “No, he is not a lame duck!”
Johnson continued, “He’s the most powerful president of this generation and many others. We have a lot more work to do together. The outcome in Indiana is inconsequential to that.”
“He put on a major pressure campaign,” Raju pushed.
“No, he didn’t! He did not put a major pressure campaign for it. He let his opinion be known as he does on everything, all the time, all day long,” Johnson said.
Despite Johnson’s denial, Trump had enlisted the Speaker and Vice President JD Vance to urge Republican state senators to pass a redistricting map that would have given the GOP the possibility of adding several seats to the House of Representatives.
In a further sign of a pressure campaign, conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation posted to X shortly before the vote, “President Trump has made it clear to Indiana leaders: if the Indiana Senate fails to pass the map, all federal funding will be stripped from the state. Roads will not be paved. Guard bases will close. Major projects will stop. These are the stakes and every NO vote will be to blame.”
After the redistricting push lost by a vote of 31 to 19, Trump posted, “Very disappointed in Indiana State Senate Republicans, led by RINO Senators Rod Bray and Greg Goode, for not wanting to redistrict their State, allowing the United States Congress to perhaps gain two more Republican seats,” Trump wrote, while threatening to primary dissenters.
Johnson said he remained optimistic that Republicans will prevail in the midterms.
“We win some, we lose some,” Johnson said. “It is no indication whatsoever about what’s going to happen next year in the midterm elections. We are excited about it, we have a great campaign around it, we go forward regardless of how each one of these states comes out. We are going to win whatever maps are presented. I’m very bullish. I’m more bullish today than I was yesterday, and you’ll see that. You guys underestimate us. You’ll see.”
