Beleaguered House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) reportedly apologized to Joe Biden for his televised eye rolls during the State of the Union address earlier this year. Writing for RealClearPolitics, Philip Wegmann explains:
This past March, Johnson felt he owed Biden an apology. Seated just over the president’s shoulder during the State of the Union address, the speaker couldn’t mask his expressions of exhaustion and exasperation as Biden laid into Republicans. The two next met on Capitol Hill for the Friends of Ireland luncheon where Johnson toasted Biden as “America’s most famous Irishman.” On loan from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, his pint glass was the same one Reagan used during a 1984 visit to Ireland. The Guinness the Southern Baptist speaker drank was non-alcoholic.
Johnson pulled Biden aside to “apologize for the eye-roll memes that went around the world.” The president laughed, then told the speaker he was glad Johnson was better behaved than Nancy Pelosi had been during the speeches of his predecessor: “I’m just grateful you didn’t rip my speech up.” The speaker replied, “Well, Mr. President, don’t think my friends back home didn’t want me to light it on fire.”
Johnson is currently fending off challenges to his leadership, specifically relating to the recent foreign aid packages designed to assist Ukraine in its ongoing war with Russia.
Johnson emphasized, “When I go home, I want to look my kids in the eye and tell them that daddy acted like a gentleman.”
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