Politics

Why the ‘little secret’ between Trump and Speaker Johnson matters

Published

2 years ago

November 11, 2024

Why the ‘little secret’ between Trump and Speaker Johnson matters

Donald Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden was ugly and vulgar in a great many ways, but it was also lacking in subtlety. There was text, not subtext. The Republican and his allies relied on chainsaws, not scalpels.

With this in mind, there was a point during the former president’s comments that was unexpected.

Partway through the GOP candidate’s comments, Trump referenced House Speaker Mike Johnson, who also appeared at the New York City gathering. “He’s going to be around for a long time, I predict,” the former president said about the Louisiana congressman.

This was itself a comment that likely raised eyebrows among members of Congress: It’s not exactly a secret that Johnson’s standing in the House Republican Conference is precarious, and even if the GOP is able to maintain its majority in the chamber, the conventional wisdom suggests he’d face an intraparty fight to hold onto the speaker’s gavel.

With this in mind, Trump’s “prediction” will likely be seen as a signal of support that might very well improve Johnson’s chances.

But it was what the former president said in the next breath that I cared about more.

“We gotta get the congressmen elected and we gotta get the senators elected, because we can take the Senate pretty easily, and I think with our little secret we’re going to do really well with the House, right? Our little secret is having a big impact,” Trump said while looking in Johnson’s direction.

Appearing to point at the House speaker, the former president added, “He and I have a secret. We’ll tell you what it is when the race is over.”

As a rule, national candidates never say this. In fact, it largely defeats the purpose of campaigns: White House hopefuls tend to talk all about the things they want to do after the election so that they can claim a popular mandate once they succeed.

And yet, there was Trump, bragging about having a “little secret” with the speaker of the House.

It’s difficult to say with confidence what he might’ve been referring to, though a Politico report noted that they were potentially “sinister comments that could be a reference to the House settling a contested election.”

The morning after the event, Rep. Dan Goldman appeared on CNN and shared some related thoughts. “I think the secret yesterday that [Trump] referenced very likely may relate to his compact with Mike Johnson to — as a back-up plan for when he loses — to overturn this election on Jan. 6,” the New York Democrat said.

Watch this space.

Steve Benen

Steve Benen is a producer for “The Rachel Maddow Show,” the editor of MaddowBlog and an BLN political contributor. He’s also the bestselling author of “Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans’ War on the Recent Past.”

Politics

Cruz and Blackburn meet Trump to discuss tech policy

Published

6 hours ago

July 21, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Cruz and Blackburn meet Trump to discuss tech policy

The meeting came ahead of a markup planned for next week on AI policy and kids online safety measures…
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Politics

South Carolina Senate poll shows surprising frontrunner: Trey Gowdy

Published

7 hours ago

July 21, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Former Rep. Trey Gowdy insists he’s not interested in running in the South Carolina special election. But a new poll suggests Gowdy would be formidable if he changed his mind.

Gowdy holds a massive lead over seven other potential and declared GOP candidates for the late Sen. Lindsey Graham’s seat, according to a poll from Republican-aligned firm Peak Insights that was obtained by POLITICO.

Gowdy draws 38 percent of the vote. The actual candidates in the race are bunched closely, with no clear frontrunner: Rep. Ralph Norman trails at 13 percent support, followed closely by both Rep. Russell Fry and Sen. Darline Graham, Lindsey’s sister who is running for a full term after being appointed, who both sit at 9 percent. Businessman Mark Lynch, a self-funder who lost a Senate primary to Graham last summer, pulls 7 percent support. The survey of 900 likely GOP primary voters for South Carolina’s special election was conducted before anyone formally entered the contest.

The election will be a test of Trump’s power. He endorsed Darline Graham last week, but that hasn’t stopped other prominent South Carolina Republicans from jumping in the race, all of them touting their loyalty to the president — despite not having his formal support.

And at least according to the poll, his endorsement doesn’t shift things much. When respondents are informed that Trump “asked Darline Graham Nordone to run in the special election for U.S. Senate, saying if she runs, she has his complete and total endorsement,” Graham’s support improves from 9 percent to 16 percent, and Gowdy falls from 38 percent to 35 percent.

The poll is a sign of why some prominent Republicans — like his longtime friend, Sen. Tim Scott — may want Gowdy in the race. Peak Insights has polled for Scott, who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee, as well as the NRSC and the Republican National Committee among many others.

Gowdy left the U.S. House in 2019 and now hosts a show on Fox News. Through a spokesperson, he said he “has not had any conversations about the open senate seat and does not have any interest in it.”

That hasn’t stopped Scott from pushing his longtime buddy to run. Scott advocated for Gowdy to be appointed to the vacant Senate seat after Lindsey Graham’s death, before South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster appointed Darline Graham to the seat. Scott announced last week he was recruiting Gowdy to run in the special election, before Graham announced she would run.

“I can’t think of a better person that I think best represents the heart of South Carolina than Trey Gowdy,” said Scott during a press conference Wednesday. “I’m trying to get him interested in it, but we’ll see if that works out at all.”

Scott and the NRSC have not yet issued an endorsement in the special election. Scott praised Graham during a Fox News interview Monday, saying she is “strong so far, calm under pressure, and really poised.”