Mike Johnson Calls Extra Press Conference Just To Make Anti-Trans Statement

WASHINGTON ― House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) summoned reporters on Tuesday afternoon just to make sure they’re clear that he’s against transgender rights.

Earlier on in the day Johnson had ducked a question at a press conference about whether Rep.-elect Sarah McBride, a Delaware Democrat who will be the first transgender member of Congress, is a man or a woman.

Johnson apparently got enough backlash from right-wingers that his office assembled reporters so he could make another statement.

“I want to make a statement and be very clear,” Johnson said during his brief second press gaggle in the Capitol. “I was asked a question and I rejected the premise because the answer is so obvious. For anybody who doesn’t know my well-established record on this issue let me be unequivocally clear: A man is a man and a woman is a woman, and a man cannot become a woman.”

Anti-trans sentiment is running high among Republicans on Capitol Hill thanks in part to Donald Trump’s successful presidential campaign, which spent millions on TV ads accusing Vice President Kamala Harris of being for “they/them.”

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) on Tuesday even reportedly said in a closed-door meeting she would “fight” any trans woman who tried to use the women’s restroom near the House floor, in what was likely a reference to McBride.

“I shouldn’t have to, but, you know, it’s pretty aggressive for biological men to be invading our spaces for women,” Greene told reporters after the meeting.

There isn’t one big bathroom that all 435 House members have to share; each lawmaker has a toilet in their own personal office in the buildings that surround the Capitol. There are also the usual gender-segregated bathrooms in hallways throughout the Capitol complex, including ones by the House floor that members sometimes step out during votes to use.

The hoopla started on Monday when Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) introduced a resolution to prohibit House members and staffers from using single-sex bathrooms other than those corresponding to their “biological sex,” which the rule does not define.

Mace told HuffPost the resolution specifically targeted McBride, and that Johnson had assured her he would include the resolution as part of a broader rules package House Republicans will enact in January at the start of the next congressional session.

During his first press conference on Monday, in addition to not saying whether McBride is a man or woman, Johnson refused to say if he would back Mace’s resolution.

“We welcome all new members with open arms who are duly elected representatives of the people,” Johnson said. “I believe it’s a command that we treat all persons with dignity and respect.”

Johnson also said Monday that the chamber would “accommodate the needs of every single person,” presumably including McBride, though he didn’t offer any details.

At his second press appearance, Johnson repeated the line about dignity, again without saying whether the House would attempt to bar certain lawmakers from certain toilets.

“We treat everybody with dignity,” Johnson said. “We can do and believe all those things at the same time. I want to make that clear for everybody because there’s lots of questions. That’s where I stand. I’ve stood there my whole life. That’s the facts.”

Later on Tuesday, Mace said Johnson had assured her the anti-trans language would go in the House rules.

“I talked to him multiple times yesterday, but he assured me it would be in the House rules package,” Mace told HuffPost.

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) questioned the focus on trans issues during his own press conference on Tuesday ― while also avoiding a question about whether there should be accommodations for a trans lawmaker.

“This is your priority? You want to bully a member of Congress as opposed to welcoming her to join this body? So all of us can work together to get things done and deliver real results for the American people?”

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