🚨MAJOR FLOP ALERT: MAGA Extremist Mike Johnson Flies in for Two-Time Loser Greg Cunningham, Ducks Out of New Mexico in 13 Minutes Flat

MAGA Mike holds a 13-minute event outside the district, spends more time with donors than voters, is drowned out by protestors, and can't even get his own candidate's name right

House Speaker Mike Johnson jetted into New Mexico on Wednesday to prop up struggling Republican Congressional candidate Greg Cunningham — and the trip was such a dud that the two of them spent more time raising money behind closed doors than facing New Mexico voters.

The marquee events for Johnson’s fly-in were a private fundraising event with limited access, zero public-facing events for New Mexico voters, and a 13-minute press conference with only vetted attendees, making it clear Johnson and Cunningham were too scared to face New Mexicans who are struggling with rising costs and cuts to Medicaid and SNAP. 

At the press conference, Cunningham refused to take a single question from the press, Johnson took only a handful, and neither Republican offered New Mexicans anything resembling a plan on public safety, despite them branding the press conference as focused on public safety. Instead, they doubled down on their loyalty to Donald Trump and his extremist agenda. 

Here's the readouts New Mexicans woke up to on Thursday:

• Santa Fe New Mexican — “House Speaker Mike Johnson: Trump 'loves' New Mexico congressional candidate Greg Cunningham.” The big takeaway from Johnson's brief visit was that Donald Trump likes Greg Cunningham, which tells you exactly whose priorities Cunningham would carry to Washington, and it isn't New Mexicans’. It’s also telling that Cunningham and his MAGA camp couldn’t find anyone actually in CD-02 willing to host their press event.

• Source New Mexico — “Cunningham, for his part, delivered brief remarks and did not take questions from the media.” A candidate who wants to represent 700,000 New Mexicans couldn't stand to take questions from the reporters in the room.

• KOAT — a “public safety” event with no public safety. Reporter Aliyah Chavez notes that “the event had been promoted as an opportunity for Cunningham to outline his plans border security and public safety, however the speakers offered few details about new proposals or how they would put those ideas into action.”

The lowlights:

• They had a promoted “concept of a plan” for public safety — and nothing to show. Cunningham lined up sheriffs and Fraternal Order of Police members for the cameras, then delivered brief remarks, ducked the press, and offered zero on how he'd actually make New Mexicans safer. 

• Johnson admitted the quiet part. Just last week, campaigning in Virginia, the Speaker conceded: “The Iran conflict has been the cause, of course, of gas prices going up.” The Republican war Cunningham proudly stands behind is the reason New Mexicans are paying more at the pump, and Cunningham rolled out the red carpet for the man who is proud of it.

• Johnson trashed a record he clearly hasn't read. He attacked Rep. Gabe Vasquez — the same Gabe Vasquez who has fought for RECA downwinders, stood against Trump's Medicaid and SNAP cuts, and built one of the most bipartisan records in Congress, working across the aisle on border security and public safety. Johnson isn't interested in solutions for New Mexico. He's interested in MAGA cronies for Trump like Cunningham.

• He couldn't even get the name right. While praising his own candidate's law enforcement backing, Johnson called him “Gabe.” Seventy days out, and the Speaker of the House mixed up his MAGA recruit with the Congressman New Mexicans keep re-electing.

Meanwhile, New Mexicans showed up to make themselves heard — chanting loud enough to be audible inside the room — so much so that Cunningham addressed the noise from the protest in his own brief remarks — as well as hanging banners and making their feelings clear as Johnson's SUV slipped out.

“Mike Johnson flew across the country, spent 13 minutes dodging questions outside the district, admitted his party's war is raising your gas prices, and left without a single ‘solution’ for New Mexico. Two-time loser Greg Cunningham didn't get a rescue — he got a preview of what he'd be in Congress: a rubber stamp for Donald Trump who can't be bothered to answer to the people he wants to represent. New Mexico has already beaten this agenda before, and we'll do it again in November,” said Democratic Party of New Mexico Spokesperson Daniel Garcia.

Photo from @DanielJChacon