EXCLUSIVE: Mike Johnson says Hakeem Jeffries ‘challenge’ with DSA will differ from GOP rabble-rousers

Published September 9, 2026 5:20pm ET



DALLAS — House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) thinks the challenges Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) will face next Congress from progressives and the Democratic Socialists of America will be different from what he has experienced atop the Republican conference. 

Johnson, signaling confidence that Republicans will hold on to their slim House majority in November, told the Washington Examiner during an exclusive interview on Day 1 of the party’s midterm convention that Jeffries is going to have a “rowdy bunch of openly avowed communists in his camp,” referring to the socialist candidates who have won Democratic primaries in deep blue districts nationwide.

Already a print subscriber? Click here to login/register your account

Trusted reporting.Unlimited access.

Subscribe for full access to Washington Examiner coverage, expert political analysis, and subscriber-only journalism.

Get Unlimited Access

Already a member? Log in

Cancel anytime.