Rep. Dean Describes 2020 Election Exchange With Mike Johnson

Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.) described new House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) as an extremist MAGA Republican, and remembered a telling exchange she says she had with him after the violent Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.

The secret to the success of Mike Johnson ascending to the speakership, after about a 24-hour run, is that very few people knew him or knew what he stands for, she told MSNBC legal analyst Charles Coleman Jr. on Sunday.

Dean recalled that during the House floor vote to elect Johnson, a Democratic colleague asked her: Do you know anything about this guy?

Dean said that in fact, she did, because she serves with Johnson on the House judiciary committee.

She looked back on a conversation she said she had with Johnson shortly after the certification of President Joe Biden s 2020 election victory.

Johnson tried to defend to me, and to others on my side of the aisle, why he was such an architect of the election-denying scheme, and tried to argue his legal case about it, she said.

And when I said to him: But after all, there was an attempted insurrection. You were here for it. That didnt change your sights at all? No, it did not, she said.

She also noted that Johnson wouldnt answer questions about whether the election was legitimate as recently as last week .

Its chilling to me that he is now third in line to the presidency, she said.

Republicans voted unanimously to elect Johnson to the speakership following weeks of infighting and three failed nominees. Every Democrat present voted for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

It was a remarkable about-face for lawmakers like Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) whod said they would not support Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) for the post because he was an election denier.

Multiple members of Congress have said they barely knew anything about Johnson before he became the nominee.

Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) said on MSNBC Sunday: We all had to Google Mike Johnson the other night as he was nominated... and were members of Congress.

The more we learn, the more concerned I am, Craig said.

An unidentified lawmaker told The Washington Posts Jacqueline Alemany last week that Republicans didnt have time to properly vet Johnson before he was elected.

But Morning Joe co-host Willie Geist said Thursday that excuse doesnt pass the laugh test.

All you have to do is Google [Johnson] to find that he was one of the architects and the leaders of the efforts, the attempt anyway, to overturn the 2020 election, Geist said .

","type":"video","meta":{"author":"MSNBC","author_url":"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaXkIU1QidjPwiAYu6GcHjg","cache_age":86400,"description":"Rep. Madeleine Dean speaks to Charles Coleman Jr. about her concerns about new Speaker Mike Johnson, who shes served on the House Judiciary Committee with, and why she finds it chilling that hes now second in line to the presidency. The secret to the success of Mike Johnson ascending to the speakership after a 24-hour run is that very few people knew him or knew what he stands for, Dean says. He slipped in hes an extremist. Hes a Trump ally.\n\n Subscribe to MSNBC: http://on.msnbc.com/SubscribeTomsnbc\n \nFollow MSNBC Show Blogs \nMaddowBlog: https://www.msnbc.com/maddowblog\nReidOut Blog: https://www.msnbc.com/reidoutblog\n\nMSNBC delivers breaking news, in-depth analysis of politics headlines, as well as commentary and informed perspectives. Find video clips and segments from The Rachel Maddow Show, Morning Joe, The Beat with Ari Melber, Deadline: White House, The ReidOut, All In, Last Word, 11th Hour, and Alex Wagner who brings her breadth of reporting experience to MSNBC primetime. Watch Alex Wagner Tonight Tuesday through Friday at 9pm Eastern. \n \nConnect with MSNBC Online \nVisit msnbc.com: http://on.msnbc.com/Readmsnbc\nSubscribe to the MSNBC Daily Newsletter: MSNBC.com/NewslettersYouTube\nFind MSNBC on Facebook: http://on.msnbc.com/Likemsnbc\nFollow MSNBC on Twitter: http://on.msnbc.com/Followmsnbc\nFollow MSNBC on Instagram: http://on.msnbc.com/Instamsnbc\n\n#Trump #MikeJohnson #Politics","options":{"_cc_load_policy":{"label":"Closed captions","value":false},"_end":{"label":"End on","placeholder":"ex.: 11, 1m10s","value":""},"_start":{"label":"Start from","placeholder":"ex.: 11, 1m10s","value":""},"click_to_play":{"label":"Hold load & play until clicked","value":false}},"provider_name":"YouTube","thumbnail_height":720,"thumbnail_url":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/cmb5dx84hNk/maxresdefault.jpg","thumbnail_width":1280,"title":"'A surrogate for Trump: Rep. Dean sounds alarm on new speaker","type":"video","url":"https://action.news/watch?v=cmb5dx84hNk","version":"1.0"},"flags":[],"enhancements":{},"fullBleed":false,"options":{"theme":"news","device":"mobile","editionInfo":{"id":"us","name":"U.S.","link":"https://action.news","locale":"en_US"},"originalEdition":"us","isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":false,"entryId":"653f9f74e4b0ae2dc0b46f48","entryPermalink":"https://action.news/entry/madeleine-dean-mike-johnson-election-denier_n_653f9f74e4b0ae2dc0b46f48","entryTagsList":"mike-johnson,madeleine-dean,@us_huffpost_now","sectionSlug":"politics","deptSlug":"politics-news","sectionRedirectUrl":null,"subcategories":"us-news","isWide":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"us.politics","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc111dcf87c2cd2f5d8bf","overrides":{"front_page_top_videos":{"desktop":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","mobileweb":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d"},"top_media":{"desktop":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","mobile":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"anthology":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"content":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"}},"playerUpdates":{"5668ae6ee4b0b5e26955d6a6":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","56aa41bae4b091744c0440d8":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81","5841b2b5cc52c716ec6e5a7f":"60b8e355cdd90620331ba185","58b5e2b8d85a10302feee895":"60b64316b171b7444beafdb2","58b74698f78ced31417819ae":"60b8e5bec5449357a7ad9b52","58b74ccecebcea57e2c3a3d1":"60b8e5eac5449357a7ad9ca5","58cff690d85a100b9992bc39":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","58cffb3fb6d9b972a49a3c9d":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","58cffdd74d96935d7d6ec180":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","58d03a84f78ced6518eb2fa7":"60b643c82e76be41f112735c","592edf20e0fa177b0c26f7fd":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","5b35266b158f855373e28256":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","5c116f29f79c4171d82b7c2a":"60b64440b171b7444beb040b","5c1170fc600c9a697bf0c6b9":"60b646102e76be41f1127ffc","5c47791afa1b317df8ae0c4f":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","5c477987a6b48b35f164773d":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","5c4779ee943c3c2a64f28371":"60b8e747cdd90620331bb861","5c477a26fcd67b26879bc7c2":"60b8e788c5449357a7ada67b","5d8921a78c3ae845f366c9b6":"60ae7be5f3a7c13a30417ff9","58b98b00ba82aa39a6534321":"60d0de7c9340d7032ad1146c","58b9d14cb6d9b96c9ec32af3":"60d0dec19340d7032ad115a0","58cff8eccebcea42931e0436":"60d0e005b627221e9d819d44","592edf5de0fa177b0c26f95b":"60d0e38fb627221e9d81adcf","58cff72fd85a100b9992c112":"60d0e447b627221e9d81b0da","56b4d34fe4b022697697c400":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","60b8e4c0c5449357a7ad957d":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"ff7fdddc-5441-4253-abc4-f12a33fad58b","clickToPlayPlayer":"d014396e-b366-4c17-aeac-3ce906fa3fd0","videoPagePlayer":"f010447b-d244-4111-a314-7b4542ae4145","verticalPlayer":"e58cb05a-0bc8-4210-9108-fea82726c065","stickyPlayerControl":"52ea1755-d601-4ad1-bccc-d8cce3f0e5da","stickyPlayerON":"8055e9e5-3bda-4933-8d45-9ad814fb6e22"},"topConnatixThumnbailSrc":"https://img.connatix.com/503aa600-ea49-45ea-afd6-4bbf0bc81b54/1_th.jpg?crop=480:270,smart&width=480&height=270&format=jpeg&quality=60&fit=crop","customAmpComponents":[],"ampAssetsUrl":"https://amp.assets.huffpost.com","videoTraits":null,"positionInUnitCounts":{"buzz_head":{"count":0},"buzz_body":{"count":0},"buzz_bottom":{"count":0}},"positionInSubUnitCounts":{"article_body":{"count":6},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_content":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":1},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"653f9f74e4b0ae2dc0b46f48","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"mobile","page_edition":"en-us"},"tags":[{"name":"Mike Johnson","slug":"mike-johnson","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/mike-johnson","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/mike-johnson","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/mike-johnson"},"url":"https://action.news/topic/mike-johnson"},{"name":"Madeleine Dean","slug":"madeleine-dean","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/madeleine-dean","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/madeleine-dean","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/madeleine-dean"},"url":"https://action.news/topic/madeleine-dean"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["

\r\n\r\n","

\r\n\r\n"],"adCount":0},"isCollectionEmbed":false}">