Mike Johnson narrowly survives vote to remain speaker

The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell

NBC News

Policy, Msnbc, Politics, President, Washington, Congress, Government, Senate, News

4.4 • 5.9K Ratings

🗓️ 4 January 2025

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Tonight on The Last Word: Democrats show a united front as the new Congress begins. Also, warring MAGA factions expose a schism in Donald Trump’s GOP. Plus, a special election will determine control of the Virginia Senate. And in a historic first, two Black women are serving in the U.S. Senate together for the first time. Rep. Robert Garcia, Barbara McQuade, Jason Johnson, Virginia Delegate Kannan Srinivasan, JJ Singh, and Amb. Carol Moseley Braun join Symone Sanders.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Time now for the last word with Simone Sanders Townsend in for Lawrence this evening, which is just not a privilege I get very much.
0:09.6	You and I talk every weekend morning, but I'm on the other end of it.
0:13.3	I'm saying goodbye to you and I'm starting my show.
0:16.3	This is kind of fun, Simone.
0:18.1	It's refreshing.
0:19.0	It's refreshing.
0:19.7	I will see you tomorrow, Allie Belchie.
0:21.6	I look forward to that. Get some sleep tonight, my friend. Have yourself a great show.
0:24.8	Thanks, you too.
0:26.3	So Donald Trump spent much of his Friday working the phones to save himself and Mike Johnson from another House Republican Speaker vote humiliation, which he did, barely.
0:36.3	And he also spent it whining that flags will be at half
0:39.8	staff on inauguration day in honor of the late president Jimmy Carter. But that was the least of
0:45.7	Donald Trump's problems today. Because this afternoon, he found out that he will be sentenced
0:49.9	next Friday in his criminal hush money case. We're going to have more on that later in the program with MSNBC legal analyst Barbara
0:56.5	McQuaid.
0:57.9	Now, today, shortly before Judge Mershahn set Donald Trump's sentencing date,
1:02.6	Mike Johnson won his first full term as Speaker of the House of Representatives.
1:06.5	But it wasn't before Republican holdouts who initially voted against Mike Johnson this afternoon
1:12.0	switched their votes, allowing him to squeak through on the first ballot.
1:16.2	Today, Mike Johnson credited his win to Donald Trump.
1:20.8	Voice and his influence is of singular importance.
1:24.2	So grateful to have his support.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NBC News, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of NBC News and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.