House Speaker Mike Johnson and former President Donald Trump on Friday projected unity and vowed to push election integrity legislation requiring every voter to prove they are a U.S. citizen.
Speaking at a joint press conference at Mr. Trump’s Mar-A-Lago estate, they said something must be done to ensure the nation’s elections are on the up-and-up and to stop illegal immigrants from casting ballots that could swing elections.
“We cannot wait for widespread fraud to occur,” Mr. Johnson said.
The Louisiana Republican said a vote on the measure would show voters where elected leaders stand on the issue.
“You will see Republicans stand for election integrity,” he said. “Democrats are going to have to go on the record.”
Mr. Trump focused his remarks on strengthening the U.S.-Mexico border and dinging President Biden.
“I would like to demand that our border be closed because we have millions of people coming into our country,” Mr. Trump said, describing Mr. Biden as “grossly incompetent.”
Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, in a statement released by the Biden campaign, dismissed the announcement as a “sham.” He said Mr. Trump still “can’t admit the truth: that he lost the 2020 election.”
“Donald Trump and Mike Johnson don’t care about election integrity,” Mr. Thompson, Mississippi Democrat, said. “They care only about helping Trump’s campaign of revenge and retribution to regain power at all costs.”
Mr. Johnson played a role in challenging the results of the 2020 election, filing a legal filing brief in a lawsuit that sought to upend Mr. Biden’s victory. The Supreme Court tossed the case out.
Mr. Johnson also voted against certifying the election results.
Meanwhile, Mr. Johnson is taking heat from one of Mr. Trump’s most ardent supporters, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia.
She is threatening to remove Mr. Johnson from the speaker post over his handling of Ukraine war aid and government spending.
Ms. Greene took the speaker to task earlier in the day for joining a majority of his colleagues in voting to reauthorize a two-year extension of the expiring surveillance law, known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, and killing an amendment requiring warrants to search for Americans in the FISA database.
Mr. Trump had implored lawmakers to “kill” the law.
“What is the difference between Speaker Johnson and Speaker Nancy Pelosi,” Ms. Greene told reporters.
She also blasted out a fundraising email earlier in the day saying it is clear Mr. Johnson “has joined ‘The Company’ that is the Swamp” and betrayed “Republicans and the American people.”
Mr. Trump, however, defended Mr. Johnson, saying he was in a tough spot.
“I get along very well with the speaker and I get along very well with Marjorie,” Mr. Trump said of Ms. Greene. “I think he is doing a very good job.”
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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