House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) traveled to Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida on Friday to meet with former President Donald Trump to talk about the November 2024 race and election integrity.
The two GOP leaders met for the first time since Johnson became Speaker, discussing ways to prevent illegal immigrants from voting in the upcoming presidential election— an area in which they both agree.
Trump and many others have claimed that illegal immigrants affected the 2020 election, warning that a similar result could happen agains this year.
"Congress has a role with regard to federal elections. We want to make absolutely certain that anybody [who] votes is actually an American citizen," Johnson told reporters on Friday. "We need to make sure the federal law is clear on that matter, and make sure we actually have election integrity because it's the biggest concern of the American people right now.”
Trump began his remarks off by stating the immediate need to close the southern border, citing record crime and millions of illegals immigrants entering the U.S.
The former president praised Johnson’s work as Speaker despite facing "tough" circumstances.
Johnson, who referred to Trump as the nation’s “future” President, citied surveys that found election integrity is American’s top concern leading into an election year.
The Speaker blamed President Joe Biden for creating a “catastrophe” by inviting everyone from around the world to illegally come to the U.S.
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“What we’re going to do,” Johnson said. “The House Republicans are introducing a bill that will require proof of citizenship to vote. We only want U.S. citizens to vote in U.S. elections.”
“But there are some Democrats who don’t want to do that,” Johnson continued. “We believe that one of their designs… is because they want to turn this people into voters. Right now, the [Biden] administration is encouraging illegals to go to their local welfare office to sign up for benefits.”
Johnson pointed out that welfare offices ask people if they would like to also register to vote while they are there.
The Speaker warned that because of this, Biden could secure hundreds of thousands of votes, resulting in him winning the election.
“Standing alongside President Trump, we will do everything in our power to ensure that we do have free and fair elections in this country,” he added. “It is the basis of who we are as a nation and we owe that to the American people.
Johnson warned that widespread fraud is happening nationwide under the Biden Administration as illegal immigrants continue to flood U.S. borders.
Following the 2020 election, Johnson led the amicus brief, in which more than 100 House Republicans signed, to support a Texas lawsuit that sought to invalidate the election results in the four swing states Biden won.
Johnson has taken heat from his fellow Republicans after he opposed an amendment to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that failed on the House floor in a tie vote on Friday.
FISA, which Trump opposes the reauthorization of the amendment, would have required the government to obtain a warrant to examine the data of Americans associated with foreign surveillance.
GOP lawmakers voiced their thoughts on Johnson’s meeting with Trump, saying that it could the Speaker keep his job.
“Trump has got a following; he’s our nominee. ... It's now Trump and Biden — there is no other choice. So it’s good that they’re getting together,” Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) said.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) said that that “President Trump has been a great negotiator, but also he has a lot of good insight into what the American people want.”
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