The newfound Speaker said he was a “man of modest means” in a Fox interview.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) responded on Sunday to a report by The Daily Beast that highlighted his apparent lack of a bank account on his financial disclosure.

The response, however, did not actually answer whether he had one.

Fox News Sunday moderator Shannon Bream pressed Johnson on whether he had a bank account, citing a Vanity Fair write-up of The Daily Beast’s report and noting that “there’s been so much made about it.”

“Can you clear that up for us?” Bream asked.

Johnson did not.

“Look, I’m a man of modest means,” Johnson said. “I was a lawyer, but I did constitutional law, and most of my career has been in the nonprofit sector. We have four kids, five now, that are very active. And I have kids in graduate school, law school, undergraduate. We have a lot of expenses, but I can relate to everybody else. My father was a firefighter, right? I didn’t grow up with great means. But I think that helps us to be a better leader because we can relate to every hard-working American family. That’s who we are. And I think it governs and helps govern my decisions and how I lead.”

  • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world
    81·
    1 year ago

    “Look, I’m a man of modest means,” Johnson said. “

    Yeah, he’s modest about how many means he’s hiding from the IRS.

    most of my career has been in the nonprofit sector.

    Specifically the Christian Right sector, which is extremely lucrative compared to most officially for profit sectors

    I can relate to everybody else.

    Said the man who’s famously a bigot who wants government to be based on his interpretation of what his imaginary friend wants 🤦

    we can relate to every hard-working American family. That’s who we are. And I think it governs and helps govern my decisions and how I lead.

    I think I’ve cracked the code! In his vernacular, “relate to” means “abuse and steal from”! #MysterySolved

    • RaoulDook@lemmy.worldEnglish
      7·
      1 year ago

      Probably getting paid by church money under the table without being taxed.

      I’ve met regular people who do that and admitted they weren’t paying taxes on the church wages, so even the little guys are getting away with that

    • Adalast@lemmy.world
      3·
      1 year ago

      I had a fantasy last night where I became president and made the CEO/board of directors culpable for any illegal activities of the company then placed a banking embargo on every non-extradition country. Double whammy, they run, can’t access their US assets, they stay, can’t access their tax haven accounts.