The meeting could serve as a much-needed political reset for the embattled speaker.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) will host a press conference on election integrity with former President Donald Trump on April 12.
The speaker will travel to the former president’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, for the event, which is slated for 4:30 p.m. (ET).
The Republican National Committee (RNC), under its new leadership, has highlighted election integrity as its key focus heading into the November election.
“When you talk about election integrity, it is vital. It is the No. 1 thing that we are focused on, aside from getting out the vote, which, of course, Donald Trump himself will do for us,” said Lara Trump, RNC co-chair and the presumptive GOP presidential nominee’s daughter-in-law.
For many Republicans—including President Trump—questions remain about the validity of the results of the 2020 presidential election.
But Democrat Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, former chairman of the House’s Jan. 6 panel, says such concerns are not based in reality.
“By virtually all measures, the 2020 election was among the most secure in our nation’s history,” Mr. Thompson said.
“Donald Trump lost to President Biden by over seven million votes—fair and square. But Donald Trump still can’t admit it.
“The sham event at Trump’s country club should remind the American people of a dangerous truth: Donald Trump is a threat to our democracy and a danger to our Constitution.”
The congressman further charged that the former president and speaker “don’t care about election integrity—they care only about helping Trump’s campaign of revenge and retribution to regain power at all costs.
“The American people know this, and just like four years ago, they will not be fooled by Trump’s dangerous lies this November.”
On Shaky Ground
While the focus of the press conference will be election integrity, the optics of the GOP’s de facto leader standing united with Mr. Johnson on any issue could not come at a more crucial time for the embattled speaker.
Intraparty tensions over his handling of the Congressional spending battle have left his hold on the gavel in doubt.
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