(16 Apr 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Washington, DC – 16 April 2024
1. Shots of House Speaker Mike Johnson listening to reporter question
2. UPSOUND (English) Reporter question:
"What is your response to Republicans who say this move should cost you your job, and that if you don’t resign, they will try to oust you?"
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Mike Johnson, Speaker of the House:
"I am not resigning. And it is, it is, in my view, an absurd notion that someone would bring a vacate motion when we are simply here trying to do our jobs. It is not helpful to the cause. It is not helpful to the country. It does not help the House Republicans advance our agenda, which is in the best interest of the American people here, a secure border, sound governance. And it’s not helpful to the unity that we have in the body. Look, we have a we have a very important mission here. Our mission is very clear. The reason most of us, I can speak for the House Republicans, the reason every House Republican ran for Congress is because they wanted to come here and help to save this beleaguered republic of ours. We want to save the country. We believe that we’re in an existential moment, we really do. This is a civilizational moment. It’s a, it’s a moment where we’re going to decide in this election cycle which vision we have for the country."
++BLACK BETWEEN SOUNDBITES++
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Mike Johnson, Speaker of the House:
"We have to have a united front and we have to have our members work together. And we’ll be we’ll be working today to do that very thing. Look, we are in, we are in unprecedented times, okay? We’re in dangerous times, as has been articulated here around the world and here at home. We need steady leadership. We need steady hands at the wheel. Look, I regard myself as a, as a wartime speaker. I mean, in a literal sense, we are. I knew that when I took the gavel, I didn’t anticipate that this would be an easy path. Former Speaker Newt Gingrich posted a couple days ago on his social media that this is the hardest challenge that’s faced a speaker, probably in the history of the country, the moment that we’re in right now. He said arguably it may be comparable to the Civil War, but maybe worse. A single vote margin at a difficult time when the nation is terribly divided. The way we get through that is we show unity and we explain how we have answers to all these great challenges. We have those answers, we shouldn’t get in the way of ourselves. We’re going to we’re going to work this out today. And we’ll have a lot more comment for you today, for you later. But I’m going to tell you that I am not concerned about this. I am going to do my job. And I think that’s what the American people expect. Thanks so much."
5. Johnson walks out of news conference
STORYLINE:
Defiant and determined, House Speaker Mike Johnson pushed back Tuesday against mounting Republican anger over his proposed U.S. aid package for Ukraine, Israel and other allies rejecting a call that he step aside or risk a vote to oust him from office.
“I am not resigning,” Johnson said after a testy morning meeting of House Republicans at the Capitol.
Johnson referred to himself as a “wartime speaker” of the House and indicated in his strongest self-defense yet he would press forward with the U.S. national security aid package, a situation that would force him to rely on Democrats to help pass it, over objections from his weakened majority.
At his own press conference Tuesday, Johnson spoke of the importance of ensuring Trump, who at his criminal trial in New York, is returned to the White House.
Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/
You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/3382f0465ed14c9e9e99df5e4b45b3f9
