MAGA Slams Mike Johnson for Going to Trump's Trial

Supporters of former president Donald Trump's Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement criticized Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday for attending Trump's criminal hush money trial in New York.

Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a frequent foil for Johnson, took to X, formerly Twitter, to share her disapproval stating that Johnson should instead be defunding the Department of Justice's (DOJ) special counsel Jack Smith.

"The Speaker of the House should be defunding Jack Smith instead of watching Pres Trump be persecuted by a NY corrupt DA in a politically weaponized judge's courtroom. Pathetic.," Greene wrote on X.

Smith has led the federal DOJ investigation against Trump for alleged election interference. In August, the former president was indicted on four counts in that case, accused of attempting to overturn the results of his 2020 election loss to Biden in the run-up to the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Johnson attended Trump's trial in Manhattan in a separate case.

Trump, the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee, is the first former president in U.S. history to stand trial in a criminal case. He was indicted in March 2023 on charges of falsifying business records relating to hush money paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels during his 2016 presidential campaign. Daniels had alleged she had an affair with Trump in 2006, which he has denied. The former president has pleaded not guilty to all charges and said the case against him is politically motivated.

Johnson delivered remarks in support of the former president on Tuesday outside of the courtroom.

"President Trump is a friend and I wanted to be here to support him," Johnson said. "I'm here speaking with you outside because the court won't allow us to speak inside the building, that's just one of the many things that are wrong here."

Johnson continued by calling the trial a "sham" being held to keep Trump off the campaign trail. As an attorney himself, the Louisiana congressman said he is "disgusted" by what is happening at Trump's trial and to the "entire system of justice overall."

"The crime that they are accusing President Trump of is falsification of business records," Johnson said. "But I think everybody knows he is not the bookkeeper for his company. President Trump is innocent of these charges."

Johnson's appearance at Trump's trial comes less than a week after he survived a vote called by Greene on whether to remove him from his position. In the weeks leading up to that vote, Johnson met with Trump, who has offered him praise despite opposition from some of the former president's most ardent supporters.

Newsweek has reached out to Johnson via email for comment.

Greene was not the only MAGA supporter who spoke out against Johnson's appearance.

In addition, Steve Bannon's War Room podcast CFO Grace Chong took to X to respond to the liberal news site MeidasTouch's post on Johnson's appearance which said: "This is so pathetic." Chong responded, "i concur," adding in all caps in a separate post that Johnson's appearance was "ALL PERFORMATIVE."

Meanwhile, former Republican representative Liz Cheney criticized Johnson for different reasons as she took aim at the Speaker, known for his strong religious beliefs, for attending the trial.

"Have to admit I'm surprised that Speaker Johnson wants to be in the 'I cheated on my wife with a porn star' club. I guess he's not that concerned with teaching morality to our young people after all," Cheney wrote on X.

Cheney, who has been amongst the most prominent GOP critics of Trump, served on the committee that investigated the Capitol riot. In December 2022, the committee published an 845-page report that said Trump was personally responsible for the riot and recommended he face criminal charges.

In addition to the DOJ case and the trial in New York, federal prosecutors charged Trump with 31 counts for allegedly keeping classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. He is also facing charges in Georgia for alleged attempts to overturn the results for the 2020 election. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges and has repeatedly maintained his innocence all the cases, saying they are politically motivated.