Trump and Mike Johnson share a "little secret," but it might be a huge nothing burger, based on Trump's ignorance of how the law and government work

Mike Johnson and Donald Trump (Getty)

 

Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson have a "little secret," which probably involves Johnson working in cahoots with Trump to help him steal the 2024 election -- much as Johnson tried to do four years ago, according to a report at The New York Times. Under the headline "Trump Hints at ‘Little Secret’ With House Republicans, Setting Off a Panic; The former president seemed to delight in fueling speculation about what he is cooking up with House Republicans, prompting Democrats to worry about election fraud. Speaker Mike Johnson refused to explain." The Times' Annie Karni hints at what might be going on. She writes:

Speaker Mike Johnson was taking in former President Donald J. Trump’s grievance-fueled closing rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday afternoon when the main actor onstage turned to him and drew him into the drama.

“I think with our little secret we’re going to do really well with the House, right?” Mr. Trump said, addressing Mr. Johnson directly. “Our little secret is having a big impact. He and I have a little secret — we will tell you what it is when the race is over.”

This aside, delivered with a small chuckle, set off a frenzy among frightened Democrats who have been living with something akin to post-traumatic stress disorder caused by the last two presidential election cycles, and who are now primed to fear the worst.

In this case, the worst is very bad: It is a scenario in which Mr. Johnson, who worked with Mr. Trump to undermine the 2020 election results, would again be in cahoots with the former president to steal the election and stop the certification of the results on Jan. 6, 2025, should Vice President Kamala Harris win.

In a statement provided to The New York Times, the mild-mannered Mr. Johnson did nothing to alleviate those fears. Instead, he seemed to confirm that there was, in fact, a “little secret” — and that he planned to keep it that way.

“Speaking of secrets,” Mr. Johnson said, “Harris knew Biden was physically and mentally impaired and kept it a secret. The F.B.I. knew the Hunter Biden laptop was real and kept it secret. They also knew Russia collusion was fake and kept that a secret, too.”

Mr. Johnson added: “It appears that all those secrets didn’t matter to the media because they all helped Democrats. But this one might help Donald Trump, and now they care? By definition, a secret is not to be shared — and I don’t intend to share this one.”

Mr. Johnson’s blustery statement was striking not just for its groundless claims presented as facts. It also seemed to validate that Mr. Trump was actually referring to something specific, and not just speaking with his regular vagueness that allows listeners to hear whatever they want.

Karni was quick to add that this "secret" might be no big deal, just "Trump being Trump." She writes:

Some people familiar with Mr. Trump’s tactics shrugged it off as a riff that meant very little — or possibly nothing at all. They said he was most likely referring to so-called tele-rallies with Republican members of Congress that he has been participating in regularly, like one he held ahead of the Madison Square Garden rally, hosted by Representative Elise Stefanik of New York and attended by eight G.O.P. incumbents and candidates from her state.

They also noted that he liked to poke his detractors and might have enjoyed the frenzy the comment created among Democrats.

“President Trump has done countless tele-rallies reaching millions of Americans across the country in key regions that also help bolster Republicans in congressional races,” said Steven Cheung, a Trump spokesman, when asked about what the “little secret” comment meant.

Either way, the episode was a reminder of how difficult it can be to determine whether Mr. Trump’s musings are insignificant chatter, serious statements of intent or something in between.

Mr. Johnson, for his part, has contemplated the uncomfortable position he might be in, in the unlikely scenario that he is re-elected speaker of the House, Ms. Harris wins the presidency and there are threats of violence around the Jan. 6 electoral certification by Congress.

“I don’t think we’ll see anything like that. I certainly pray and hope that’s true,” he told CBS News anchor Margaret Brennan earlier this month. “There’s a lot of great work that’s been done at the federal, state and local level to prevent the chaos that ensued after 2020, the Covid election year, when all the states were changing their laws and regulations.” Mr. Johnson added that he was praying for a “free and fair, legal election across the board.”

Is it possible this "secret" is part of a Donald Trump con game, the kind of thing at which he seems to excel? Is it possible that Trump thinks he and Johnson have something clever up their sleeves, when in fact, he knows nothing about the law that might throw a hurdle in their scheme's path? Based on our reporting of the Trump campaign, which includes a number of posts that show his clear ignorance of how the law and government work, that is a strong possibility. We will address these questions and more in our next post.