CNN's Kaitlan Collins Presses House Speaker on Endorsing Donald Trump After Bashing His 'Character'
KAitlyn Collins claims that Trump was behind the RNC's plan.
Jan. 18 2024, Published 7:15 p.m. ET
CNN's Kaitlan Collins pressed House Speaker Mike Johnson on his apparent flip-flopping towards Donald Trump, whom he endorsed despite slamming his "character" during his first presidential run, RadarOnline.com has learned.
Johnson appeared to change his stance on Trump's character after the ex-president supported his bid for House Speaker last year.
Speaker Johnson was grilled over a scathing 2015 Facebook post on Trump's character.
During Wednesday's edition of The Source with Kaitlan Collins, the CNN host confronted the House Speaker on his past criticism of Trump.
Before Johnson was elected to Congress, he aired his grievances and concerns about Trump being elected to the White House in a scathing August 2015 Facebook post, which he made a day after the first Republican primary debate.
"The thing about Donald Trump is that he lacks the character and the moral center we desperately need again in the White House," Johnson wrote.
Collins questioned what changed for Johnson to endorse Trump after speaking out against him in 2015.
The post sparked a debate in its comment section, and when a pro-Trump supporter hit back at the future House Speaker, Johnson doubled down on his stance, saying, "I am afraid he would break more things than he fixes. He is a hot head by nature, and that is a dangerous trait to have in a Commander in Chief."
Johnson made another point warning about the dangers of Trump in control by asking what would happen if "he decided to bomb another head of state merely disrespecting him."
Johnson warned in 2016 that electing 'hot head' Trump could be disastrous for the country.
During his CNN interview, Collins brought up his old Facebook post, to which Johnson claimed he endorsed Trump in 2016 when he was a Louisiana state lawmaker.
"You have endorsed former President Trump in the 2024 race. That’s a change from where you were when he ran the first time around back into 2016. You said then that you believe he lacked character and a moral center," Collins began her line of questioning.
"I’m curious why your opinion on that has changed now, why you are now endorsing him?"
Johnson claimed he endorsed Trump in 2016 despite his name not appearing on any official endorsement lists.
"No, I did endorse President Trump the first time around, before I got to know him, before many of the country got to know him," Johnson replied, adding, "I just knew a little bit about his reputation and some things he had said."
While Johnson claimed he's supported the ex-president since 2016, his name oddly does not appear on any list of politicians who publicly endorsed Trump.
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Johnson continued to defend his recent endorsement. "Look, President Trump and I are very close. We worked very closely together. I was one of his impeachment defense lawyers, as you know, you covered that whole saga. I was very close ally of his in Congress," he stated.
The Speaker said he's "convinced he’s going to be the next president of the United States" and "will get a second term."
"I’m very much looking forward to that happening because we need him to come in and bring those policies back to fix this country," Johnson added.
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