Sen. Rand Paul Slams House Speaker Mike Johnson, Accuses Him Of Governing Like a Democrat (VIDEO)

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul did not hold back in his criticisms of Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, accusing him of governing the country like a Democrat since assuming the role last year.

Paul made the comments in an interview with Maria Bartiromo, taking particular aim at Johnson’s willingness to support the passage of a $1.5 trillion spending bill.

“As I see it now, I’m not so sure there’s a difference between Mike Johnson being in charge and Democrats being in charge,” Paul explained. “The deficit this year will be 1.5 to 2 trillion dollars, and that’s Mike Johnson’s bill. He put it forward, he supported it with a minority of Republicans, with a majority of Democrats. This is not the using the power of the purse, this is abdicating the power of the purse.”

Paul also slammed Johnson for his willingness to reauthorize the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) without a provision requiring warrants in order to spy on U.S. citizens.

.@SpeakerJohnson was incredibly wrong to vote w/ Dems against the 4th amend. when he killed the FISA warrant requirement and wrong to give in to the Dems spending demands. As I see it now, I’m not so sure there’s a difference between him being in charge and Dems being in charge. pic.twitter.com/NoyRhUrvRM

— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) April 14, 2024

He explained:

People have to be strong in their convictions. He was seen as a conservative before he came to the Speakership, but now he puts a tweet out the other day saying they whispered to him about 702, how important it is, and now he’s completely changed and lost all his principles on the idea that we shouldn’t spy on Americans without a warrant.

…

The Democrats got everything they want in the spending and all the hawks got what they want too, this is a problem on the Republican side. We have people who want unlimited military spending, and then the Democrats want unlimited welfare spending and they get both.

But Johnson hasn’t held his ground. He has the power, he has the majority, use the power of the purse, Speaker Johnson. Do something to make us think you are different than a Democrat — but so far I don’t see a difference.

Earlier this week, Paul also revealed that 15 federal agencies were made aware back in 2018 that Wuhan laboratory in China was trying to create a COVID-19 virus that eventually paved the way for global lockdowns, vaccine mandates and rapid expansion of government authority.