‘This is a contrast election’: Speaker Johnson talks GOP game plan for midterms, keeps plays close to chest

House Speaker Mike Johnson says the November election will give Americans a choice between “common sense and crazy,” hinting at a midterm strategy that House Republicans are hammering out at their annual retreat this week in Doral, Florida.

“This is a contrast election,” a confident Johnson told The Lion and other media at a press conference Tuesday. “We’re really excited about that because the contrast is as stark as it has ever been. There is a wide chasm between these two political parties.

“This is not your father’s Democrat Party, as we say all the time. This party is run by Marxists, open socialists, the far-left insurgent politicians and the activist base, and they’re pushing the party all the way over the edge, and they’ve left America behind.

“When we say a contrast election, we say it very simply, as the President said it so well and so clearly at the State of the Union, this is a contest between normal and crazy, between common sense and crazy. And we have lots of examples.”

Johnson not only has the challenge of leading a razor-thin majority but bucking a strong precedent of incumbent party midterm losses.

The speaker is confident Republicans can make history, however, noting during an afternoon “Fireside Chat” with NBC News’ Scott Wong that “they have written my epitaph 20 times.”

“We have great candidates,” Johnson said of reasons he feels confident. “We have a fundraising advantage right now. We have much better policy and a strong record to run on, and all these demographics of people [who voted Republican in 2024] are going to feel the positive effects of it. We’re anticipating extraordinary economic growth going into this year.”

And never before has a second term president been so actively engaged in a midterm, he said, adding about Trump, “He’s engaged. He’s going to be engaged. He’s going to run like it’s 2024. He’s going to do the rallies and do the events, and he’s already doing it now. He’s going to be heavily involved, and he is still the turnout machine for our side.”

An additional major hurdle facing the GOP is affordability concerns for American families, made worse by rising gas prices after the Trump administration’s strikes against Iran.

However, President Donald Trump told The Lion and other media on Monday evening the conflict would be short-lived, and he’s committed to keeping oil flowing even if it means U.S. military escorts of tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.

“We’re also focused on keeping energy and oil flowing to the world, and I will not allow a terrorist regime to hold the world hostage and attempt to stop the globe’s oil supply,” Trump said. “If Iran does anything to do that, they’ll get hit at a much, much harder level.”

Johnson and other Republican House leaders maintain the affordability crisis was inherited from the Biden administration, the costs are trending in the right direction, and their work is not finished.

“We’re carrying the responsibility of turning our economy around,” House GOP Conference Chairwoman Lisa McClain said Tuesday. “The truth is, the Biden administration left this country in a hole. Inflation hammered families. Manufacturers were pushed to the brink. Job creators felt like Washington had turned [its] back on them. The American people sent us here to fix it, and that’s exactly what we’re working to do.”

McClain emphasized the passage of tax cuts for workers and families, as did House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, who also spoke at the press conference.

“And we passed a rescissions [package], delivered massive policy wins, including the largest tax cut in US history, no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, and no tax on Social Security,” he said. “Working Families are keeping more of their hard-earned money in their pockets because Republicans got it done.”

Majority Leader Steve Scalise struck the same note, but also emphasized the goal has not yet been reached: “We’ve been delivering. And make no mistake, this work is far from finished. We’re just getting started, and we’re delivering real results for families.”

An early afternoon press conference from McClain and other House members, including Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, focused on the tax cuts passed last year as part of the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill.

Smith recounted the story of a Missouri waitress in his district whose tax refund this year is $10,000 thanks to No Tax on Tips and the extension of the child tax credit.

“We are the party of the working class. They’re the party of elites and billionaires,” he said.

The party has approximately six months to deliver on its promises before Americans head to the polls in what Johnson warns is a high stakes election between increasingly different parties.

“The question that we ask to every voter in every district around America is: do you want to elect a party that will secure the borders or reopen the borders wide…? Do you want to cut your taxes … or do you want to elect the party that will raise your taxes, as they vow to do? … Do you want to vote for the party that is going to secure the cities of this country and towns, or the party that stands for policies that increase crime?”

“Do you want to vote for the party that will secure elections, or the party that will undermine our system? Do you want to vote for the party that will protect women and girls’ sports, or the party that wants to bring men back into those arenas? Do you want to vote for the party that will protect children, or the party that wants to return to transgender mutilation surgery for children?”

“These are the choices. There’s a contrast election, again, between common sense [that] the Republicans have demonstrated and work for every day, or, frankly, crazy. I think we know where the American people are.”