Johnson's Concerns: The 'Dark and Depraved' Culture Before Election as Speaker

Three weeks before being elected as Speaker, Mike Johnson expressed his concerns about American culture during a prayer call, stating that it was "dark and depraved" and almost irredeemable. He cited low church attendance and the high percentage of high school students identifying as LGBTQ as evidence of the country's decline. Johnson's past comments and writings on homosexuality and same-sex marriage have garnered attention since his election. His hard-line views on social issues, rooted in his Christian faith, are out of step with mainstream public opinion. Johnson has attempted to distance himself from his previous statements without repudiating them.