A veteran New York Times reporter spotted a revealing detail in House Speaker Mike Johnson’s response to a news-making bipartisan meeting: his reluctance to anger the president or his inner circle.
Maggie Haberman, who has covered Trump extensively, made the observation Monday on CNN while discussing Johnson’s reaction to Jared Kushner’s private meeting with House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries.
Kushner and Jeffries recently met in New York to discuss housing, immigration and the cost of living as Democrats appear increasingly likely to recapture the House in November. Kushner reportedly suggested Jeffries hold a follow-up meeting with White House chief of staff Susie Wiles.
Johnson was asked about the meeting Sunday on Fox News.
“Jared is a smart guy, and he hedges bets,” Johnson said. “But I’m telling you what, you better not bet against the House Republicans.”
Johnson also appeared to distance Kushner from the Trump administration, adding that the president’s son-in-law has “lots of other things going on” and is not directly involved in the White House’s day-to-day operations.
CNN host Bianna Golodryga asked Haberman on Monday whether Johnson was trying to downplay the meeting.
“I think it’s pretty revealing about Mike Johnson and how he views this White House and how much he does not want to anger the president or people around the president, because he did not go further than that,” Haberman said.
“That was a pretty tepid response,” she added, noting that Johnson was attempting to distance both himself and Kushner from the meeting.
Haberman also challenged Johnson’s warning against betting on a Democratic takeover in November.
“Well, the polls are all betting against Republicans right now,” she said, while acknowledging that the political environment could still change before November.
“But I think that the next two years, at least from how some in the White House are approaching it, could end up looking fairly different than what we saw for the first two years,” Haberman concluded.