House Speaker Mike Johnson’s Foreword To A New Book Promoting Anti-LGBTQ Views, Climate Change Denial & Conspiracy Theories Raises Questions

The foreword of the book The Revivalist Manifesto, written by House Speaker Mike Johnson, has come under scrutiny, along with his subsequent promotion of the book on social media and his podcast. 

Authored by local Louisiana political blogger Scott McKay, the book espouses baseless conspiracy theories embraced by the far-right, such as the debunked “Pizzagate” hoax which alleged Democratic officials’ involvement in a trafficking ring. 

The book makes unsubstantiated claims, such as the implication that Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts was blackmailed and connected to disgraced trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Additionally, the book defends podcaster Joe Rogan from racism charges after it was revealed that he used racial slurs. It goes on to disparage poor voters.

Johnson’s 300-word foreword praises McKay’s book as a valuable contribution that resonates with “freedom-loving Americans.”

Johnson’s endorsement extended beyond the foreword, as he actively promoted the book on his public social media platforms and dedicated a podcast episode to McKay. 

In the podcast, Johnson expresses his belief in the book and refers to McKay as a “dear friend.” Over the years, Johnson has written opinion pieces for McKay’s blog, The Hayride, and engaged with him on public platforms.

Johnson’s views on homosexuality, which he has criticized as “inherently unnatural” and “dangerous,” have also drawn attention since he assumed the speakership, as he has even claimed that homosexuality was responsible for the fall of the Roman Empire.

Critics argue that his endorsement of McKay’s book raises questions about his judgment.

In the book, McKay insinuates connections between hacked emails from Hillary Clinton‘s campaign chairman, John Podesta, and alleged child trafficking. McKay argues the connection to trafficking because of “unexplained references” to “hot dogs and pizza,” which he believes resemble the code words used by criminals.

He wrote, “The Pizzagate scandal was born, and though some of the most outlandish allegations made in it were clearly disproven, other elements were not; the whole thing just seemed to be dismissed as debunked, and no explanation was ever given.”

The book also contains homophobic slurs directed at Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, as it refers to him as a “queer choice,” and labels him  “openly, and obnoxiously, gay.”

The writing further targets poor voters, and labels them “unsophisticated and susceptible to government dependency,” easily manipulated with “bowdlerizing old monuments, or midnight basketball, or Black Lives Matter ‘defund the police’ pandering.”

McKay’s book propagates additional conspiracy theories, such as the debunked claim that the Democratic National Committee’s emails were leaked by a staffer, Seth Rich, rather than hacked. 

It also denies the link between carbon dioxide and climate change and mocks the urgency of the climate crisis.

The book spreads a conspiracy theory that alleges that the Biden administration intentionally allowed undocumented immigrants into the country to convert them into voters. 

The book taunts prominent Democratic officials with derogatory remarks, such as Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, who was called “half oppressed” because her mother is Native American and father is of Norwegian descent, and Barack Obama, whose “chief selling point was that he was black.”

McKay also questioned John McCain’s status as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, and called it “a political get-out-of-jail-free card.”

Johnson made headlines last week when he said he would have January 6 rioters’ faces obscured in new videos being released to protect them “from prosecution.’