Mike Johnson, the 56th Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, discussed his family origins, his Christian faith, abortion, the “so-called” separation of church and state, attacks on of American Christians and his love for his political opponent Hakeem Jeffries in an interview with Focus on the Family President Jim Daly broadcast Sept. 19.
The Focus broadcast, “Living Out Your Christian Faith in Public Service,” did not address Johnson’s latest efforts to fund the government through the end of the year and avoid a government shutdown, a mission accomplished Wednesday with the support of Senate Democrats, who helped pass a funding bill the House passed with Democratic support amid opposition from conservative Republicans that Focus and its sister organizations support.
Johnson is an attorney who worked with the Focus-aligned legal group Alliance Defending Freedom. He was mentored by Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, which Focus founded in 1983. He discussed his birth to teen parents in early 1972, the year before Roe v. Wade would make abortion legal.
Teen pregnancy
Mike Johnson
“I’m the product of a teen pregnancy,” Johnson told Daly, according to the Focus transcript edited here for brevity. “My parents were not high school sweethearts but seventh grade sweethearts, and they said they dated from junior high on. Their junior year of high school, I was conceived.”
“Friends said, ‘You know, you can go get that taken care of.’ My parents were both raised (in) nominal Catholic families, but they just knew somewhere deep in their heart that was not right. And thankfully, I was allowed to be born. They dropped out of high school, got married to start a family. That’s what you did in the ’70s. I’ve always been very deeply committed to the issue, the sanctity of human life, because it’s so real to us.”
Daly said voters who reject restrictions on abortion are “people who oppose life” and said some women are now “doing TikTok videos celebrating their abortion, taking the life of a child.”
“It’s depravity on parade, and they’re celebrating it,” Johnson said. “We have long since abandoned the idea of a culture of life.
Daly supported Donald Trump in 2020, calling him “the most pro-life president of my lifetime,” but Trump has since backed away from efforts to restrict abortion, earning a rare 2023 rebuke from Daly.
“I’ve always been very deeply committed to the issue, the sanctity of human life, because it’s so real to us.”
Baptism
Johnson’s parents left the Catholic Church for a nondenominational Bible church. “I got saved when I was 7 years old and baptized in a horse trough behind our country church,” he said. He would become the first member of his family to attend college.
Johnson’s father, who came to faith in a dentist’s chair, worked as a firefighter, a job that would take his life when Johnson was 12. He worked his way up, becoming assistant chief training officer of the Shreveport Fire Department. But he suffered extensive burns while fighting a chemical fire that exploded. He died three days before Johnson was first elected to Congress in 2016
“Well, in some ways, you are the captain of the fire department,” said Daly, “because there’s a fire burning in the culture, and God’s called you to put the fire out.”
‘A God thing’
Jim Daly
Johnson, who was elected speaker after Republicans booted his predecessor Kevin McCarthy, says his election was “a God thing,” noting, “Look, it’s not a job I ever aspired to or expected to have. I was trying to be a loyal lieutenant. … We were all deep in prayer at the time.”
“I just felt very clearly the Lord has spoken in my heart to just be prepared and be ready. And I just assumed I was to be prepared to be a lieutenant to whomever the next speaker was going to be. It became clear to me that the Lord really spoke to my heart and said, ‘It’s time to step forward.’ And my colleagues nominated me, and we were elected. Somehow, we got the first unanimous vote for speaker for our party in decades. It really was a God thing.”
“God doesn’t call the qualified, he qualifies the called, as we’re often reminded,” Johnson said.
Faith in office
Johnson says he’s living out his faith in office by focusing on God’s command, quoting Micah 6:8: “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
His awareness “that God is sovereign and he’s working on his will,” gives Johnson the peace he needs “to sleep very soundly for the four hours I’m allowed every night,” he said.
He said he also seeks God’s grace in navigating the heated divisions in D.C. and in how he treats his Democratic opponents.
“It’s no fun, but you know, we learned when we were young the biblical admonition to bless those who persecute you, you know? A soft word turns away wrath. … The servant of the Lord must be gentle to those who attack them.
“I have to practice those principles every single day. And you know what? It works. The biblical formula works.”
No grudges
Johnson’s gentle manner with others is both heartfelt and practical.
“I don’t carry grudges,” he said. “I don’t keep a record of wrongs. And it turns out that’s exactly the approach that must be taken right now. We’ve had the smallest majority in U.S. history, right? I don’t have the luxury of carrying grudges.”
“We’ve had the smallest majority in U.S. history, right? I don’t have the luxury of carrying grudges.”
He celebrates his positive relationship with Jeffries, the Democratic House minority leader.
“Someone was asking me about my relationship with Hakeem Jeffries. Hakeem is a professing Christian as well. And I said, ‘Well, he’s my brother.’ And they went, ‘What?’ Because no one talks like that anymore.
“So even though Hakeem and I agree on almost nothing policy-wise, I respect him as an individual. I love him as a friend. We’re supposed to even love our enemies, much less our colleagues in the building. But it changes the atmosphere of the place when the two leaders are willing to sit down across the table. We debate and argue, but we do it in the right spirit.
“We’re supposed to be at war. Listen, we do have to fight for our principles, but there is a biblical manner in which we are to do that. Contend for the faith, yes, but you do it in the right spirit.”
Faith under attack?
Daly asked Johnson why it is that people attack the faith of believers. “People attack us the way they do because we believe in love, joy, peace, goodness and mercy?” he asked.
Johnson said the reason is “because truly Bible-believing Christians espouse the idea of moral absolutes and truth. There is a truth. There’s not a million truths. It’s not your truth. There is the truth. And if we’re bold enough to stand for that principle, which is good for individuals, families, communities, states and nations, then that is somehow an affront to people.”
Daly claims to be nonpartisan
Daly said Focus on the Family is nonpartisan in its approach, “We don’t care if there’s a D or an R behind the name.” But his interview with Johnson was the latest in a series of programs to feature only Republican leaders, including:
- Mike Pence (who spoke at Focus’s 40th anniversary celebration)
- Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell
- Former Sen. Ben Sasse
- Representatives Tim Scott and James Lankford
- Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton
- Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. “You’re like a man’s man,” said Daly. “I’m watching you on the news or watching the many bills that you’ve signed that support the things we believe in at Focus on the Family.”
- Josh Hawley. Hawley defended his role in attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election, saying, “It’s an honor to be able to stand for the Lord. It’s an honor when you’re criticized for your beliefs, when you’re criticized for being faithful.”
- In August, Daly interviewed actor Dennis Quaid, who promoted his new movie, a “heartfelt tribute” to Ronald Reagan, “the iconic president,” and to “Reagan’s faith and legacy.”
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