House Speaker Mike Johnson has endorsed Ohio District Nine Congressional Candidate State Rep. Derek Merrin, running against JR Majewski, for US Congress in a move that may not surprise many.
I’m honored to have the support of Speaker @MikeJohnson. We will expand the Republican majority with NW Ohio delivering a mandate to uphold the Constitution, Balance the Budget, Secure our Border, Protect the US Dollar from further devaluation & enact congressional term-limits.… pic.twitter.com/MhM64u9G6F
— Derek Merrin (@DerekMerrin) January 25, 2024
Mike Johnson has had numerous other letdowns as speaker of the House:
The Southern border remains wide open.
Legislation to reform FISA Section 702 and stop the FBI’s warrantless spying on innocent Americans was blocked by Johnson.
Johnson announced a $1.590 trillion budget for fiscal year 2024, which funds foreign wars but leaves America’s borders wideo open and was applauded by Democrat Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Politico reports,
Speaker Mike Johnson has endorsed GOP state Rep. Derek Merrin in his bid to oust longtime Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur from her northwest Ohio seat, taking sides in a contentious Republican primary.
Merrin was a last-minute recruiting win for Republicans left reeling after their initially preferred candidate, Craig Riedel, was caught on tape bashing former President Donald Trump. The other Republican in the race, 2022 nominee J.R. Majewski, lost badly to Kaptur after being accused of misrepresenting his military service record.
After a massive smear campaign by leftist news outlets in 2022 dishonestly targeting Majewski’s military service after he was endorsed by President Trump in 2020, “the National Republican Congressional Committee canceled nearly $1 million in advertising promoting Majewski,” reports Daily Caller. The RINOs hung Majewski out to dry in 2022 based on bogus fake news stories about his service in Afghanistan and caused him to lose the general election.
Craig Riedel isn’t the only candidate in the race with a questionable background.
The Gateway Pundit reported on Craig Riedel’s demise as a candidate when he outed himself as a never-Trumper.
Riedel said in a recorded phone call, “I don’t like the way [Trump] communicates… I don’t like the way he calls people names,” a typical butthurt leftist and RINO talking point. “I like Ron,” Riedel added.
Johnson-endorsed Derek Merrin has also had his fair share of embarrassment due to his ties and a photo with former Ohio State Senator Wes Goodman, who was outed as a closeted gay adulterer.
NBC reported in 2017,
As Wes Goodman built a political career around values including “committed natural marriage,” the 33-year-old Republican was secretly engaging in sexual encounters with men online, via cellphone and, on one significant occasion, in his state office.
The office encounter was the final straw that last week ended his political rise as a self-proclaimed Christian conservative, which had taken Goodman from congressional campaign worker to Capitol Hill aide to a seat in the Ohio House.
It also opened the floodgates on details of Goodman’s secret gay life, which turned out not to have been a secret to several conservative groups, House Republicans or their campaign operation.
Wes Goodman (right) rubs sunscreen Derek Merrin (left)
There has been speculation by many, apparently including Republican peers, that Merrin was Goodman’s lover at one point.
It is further rumored that Merrin has hired Axiom Strategies, founded by Ron DeSantis backer Jeff Roe, for campaign consulting.
Alan Jacoby, host of America First LIVE on LFATV and CEO/Founder of The Patriot Cigar Company, published a video of X, where Merrin was confronted by an independent journalist on the potential of having a relationship with Goodman. Jacoby also called Merrin a “Trump & MAGA Hating adulterer.”
Conservative podcast host Joey Mannarino shared similar sentiments, commenting,
Establishment leaders would rather run a candidate accused by his peers of having an adulterous affair instead of supporting the candidate chosen by the people… whose military record they helped tarnish.
Establishment leaders would rather run a candidate accused by his peers of having an adulterous affair instead of supporting the candidate chosen by the people… whose military record they helped tarnish.
I stand with @JRMajewski! https://t.co/HkGSnq5BeW
— Joey Mannarino (@JoeyMannarinoUS) January 25, 2024
Meanwhile, JR Majewski has been endorsed by Trump Department of Defense Chief of Staff/Deputy Director of National Intelligence Kash Patel, Trump Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell, Rep. Cory Mills (R-FL), Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL), Senator JD Vance (R-OH), Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ), and Rep. Bob Good (R-VA).
Majewski discussed his race and uphill battle against the RINOs in an exclusive interview with The Gateway Pundit earlier this month.
When Merrin, Riedel, and Majewski were asked at a recent candidate forum who they would align with most in Congress, Majewski was the only candidate to say he would align with Trump.
Riedel said “Jim Jordan,” Derek Merrin said “the Constitution,” and Majewski said “DONALD TRUMP.”
“He’s the guy that’s going to bring the country back to what it was before the election was stolen,” Majewski added.
Watch below:
Tonight at an #OH09 candidates forum the GOP candidates were asked a distinct question: Who would we align with as freshman members of Congress?
Our answers are telling.
(I sped up the video because they’re boring establishment talking points) pic.twitter.com/fAPYeqS6vm
— JR Majewski (@JRMajewski) January 25, 2024
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