Speaker Mike Johnson meets with constituents across north Louisiana

MINDEN, La. (KSLA) - It was a busy day for the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.

“Well, we’re four days out from the election. It’s the most important election of our lifetime,” Speaker Mike Johnson said.

Speaker Johnson traveled to an area coffee shop in Minden Saturday morning (Nov. 2). This was one of four stops on his four-district trip in northern Louisiana for a meet and greet with constituents.

“I’ve been traveling around the country, and everywhere we go, everybody [talks] about the same things. It’s the cost of living that is out of control; it’s the rising crime rates around the country,” he said. “It’s the wide-open border that has got everybody so upset. And of course, the weakness we are projecting on the world stage because we’re in the most dangerous moments since World War II. I think everybody around the country is taking those factors into account.”

Another issue Americans are worried about is lowering the cost of healthcare, which Johnson says every member of Congress should be open to.

“There’s a lot of fake news going around. I was in a big public forum in Pennsylvania. We were talking about things coming up on the agenda, and somebody said ‘are we going to repeal Obamacare?,’ and I said ‘Obamacare, no? I said the ACA is deeply ingrained in our healthcare system.’ What I explained further...I explained what we’re constantly trying to do is bring down the cost of healthcare and expand access and affordability and quality of healthcare.”

Recently, media outlets have mentioned a secret between Speaker Johnson and Former President Trump.

“It’s a joke that President Trump and I have. We do Tele Town halls, “Tele Rallys”. So we did one last night, President Trump and I got on the phone, and we got dialed out to 600,000 Americans,” Johnson said. “We had the technology be able to do that, and we had about a half a million people on the line last night for 20 minutes, and he and I talked about the policy and how it’s so important to get out the vote. He calls it our secret weapon. It’s not so secret anymore.”

Johnson says it is simply a ‘get out the vote’ effort and nothing more than that.

“It’s just like magic, so everybody gets so excited, and then they run and tell their friends and family they talked to President Trump, and he calls it our secret weapon.”

If Johnson happens to lose his role as Speaker of the House, what would his next role be in Washington D.C.?

“We’re going to win the majority, so I haven’t really focused on alternatives to that. People have asked me if I would run for Republican leader instead of Speaker and maintain the top post in the party. My honest answer is I haven’t given it much thought because I’m absolutely convinced that we’re gonna win, and so I’m focusing on how we will lead going forward and we gotta be prepared to lead on day one.”