Mehdi Hasan Slams GOP Double Standards With Hypothetical On Mike Johnson

Josephine Harvey
·2 min read
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MSNBC’s Mehdi Hasan lambasted the Republican Party for their double standards on religion after it unanimously voted in what he called “an apparent Christian nationalist as speaker.”

In an interview after his election last week, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said the bible informed his worldview and policy positions. “What does Mike Johnson think about any issue under the sun? ... Go pick up a Bible off your shelf and read it. That’s my worldview,” he said on Fox News.

Hasan played a clip of the moment back for viewers.

“Could you imagine if a Muslim member of Congress said their entire worldview, their approach to every political issue, was based on the Quran, and that they made no apology for it?” Hasan asked. “I’m pretty sure that very same Republican Party that elected Mike Johnson to lead them would lose their minds. But an apparent Christian nationalist as speaker? That’s just fine.”

Johnson, a previously little-known lawmaker, was chosen as the Republican leader after the conference spent three weeks infighting and failed to unite around three other nominees. He has a long history of alliance with the religious right.

Muslim members of Congress have long faced bigotry from Republican colleagues, amplified in recent weeks amid conflict in the Middle East.

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) in 2021 insinuated that Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) was a terrorist, calling her a member of the “Jihad squad.”

Recently, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) called several progressive Democrats of color the “Hamas caucus” because they called for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war.

The National Republican Congressional Committee last month labeled Omar and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), the only Palestinian-American member of Congress, “Hamas spox.” The two lawmakers have been outspoken in support of Palestinian civilians.

Hamas killed more than 1,400 people and took over 200 hostages from Israel on Oct. 7, prompting the country to declare war on the militant group that controls the Gaza Strip. Israel has since bombarded the Palestinian territory with airstrikes and a ground invasion, reportedly killing over 9,200 people, many of them children.

Watch Hasan’s analysis on MSNBC below.

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