AOC Blasts ‘Extremist’ Mike Johnson: ‘Key Architect of the Jan. 6th Strategy to Overturn the US Election’

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Wednesday blasted Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., ahead of the vote to elect him to the gavel, saying he is an "extremist" who was the "architect" in trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.

"Introducing extremist GOP Speaker nominee Mike Johnson," Ocasio-Cortez wrote on X on Wednesday. "He was a key architect of the Jan 6th strategy to overturn the US election. Here he is leading a crowd that’s booing and telling a Congressional correspondent to 'shut up' when asking about it."

At a press conference Tuesday night announcing Johnson as the GOP Speaker nominee, the Louisiana lawmaker simply shook his head and said, "next question" when asked about his efforts to challenge the 2020 election. Republicans around him meanwhile booed and chided the reporter for asking the question.

Johnson was elected Speaker on Wednesday following several candidates failing to drum up enough support to replace the ousted Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.

He previously supported a brief signed by over 100 House Republicans supporting a Texas lawsuit seeking to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in multiple swing states.

Johnson also argued voting procedure changes amid the COVID-19 pandemic were unconstitutional and voted against certifying election results from Arizona and Pennsylvania.

Former President Donald Trump has long maintained the 2020 results were fraudulent in key swing states, but there is no proof of the widespread fraud that he and other Republicans suggested.