Speaker of the House Mike Johnson wrote the foreword and publicly promoted a 2022 book that spread baseless and discredited conspiracy theories and used derogatory homophobic insults.

Written by Scott McKay, a local Louisiana politics blogger, the book, “The Revivalist Manifesto,” gives credence to unfounded conspiracy theories often embraced by the far-right – including the “Pizzagate” hoax, which falsely claimed top Democratic officials were involved in a pedophile ring, among other conspiracies.

The book also propagates baseless and inaccurate claims, implying that Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts was subjected to blackmail and connected to the disgraced underage sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

Other sections of the book defend podcaster Joe Rogan from racism charges after it was revealed he used the N-word, which Rogan later apologized for. The book also disparages poor voters as “unsophisticated and susceptible to government dependency” and easy to manipulate with “Black Lives Matter ‘defund the police’ pandering.”

“Scott McKay presents a valuable and timely contribution with The Revivalist Manifesto because he has managed here to articulate well what millions of conscientious, freedom-loving Americans are sensing,” Johnson writes in his 300-word foreword.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I wish this was surprising. And the end of his career. It is neither even though it should be both.

  • Sanctus@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Everyone leaving apathetic comments, this shit should infuriate you. We have an extremist as our speaker who would tear down the walls of equality and use the material to build god a throne in our capital. We should be offering two options; The voluntary removal of christian extremists from our government or a forceful removal. You do not hand the biggest stick in the world to people who are itching to swing it.

    • Zorque@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      I’m tired of being angry, fatigued with fury. It hasn’t gotten me anything to hold on the to the heat behind my passion. It can burn you out inside.

      You can still maintain resolve without kindling your hate and ire. It also allows you to look beyond the passionate reactionism to find realistic and functional solutions to problems.

      • Sanctus@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        The Twelve Labors of Heracles is a great tale, and illustrates the importance of controlling your emotions instead of casting them aside. You need your anger, use it, don’t extinguish it. These injustices should fill you with fire. Being angry is the first step in taking action, it is when we lose control of this anger that our goals are never realized.

          • Sanctus@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Or we could use this anger to pool enough people together to petition for a scathing piece of legislature, with the riot in our back pocket as an alternative to peaceful resolution.

            • Zorque@kbin.social
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              1 year ago

              Or we could rely on something other than reactionism so that we do something meaningful, instead of relying on pure emotion.

              Fire consumes, it can be harnessed and utilized… but it is inherently destructive, not creative.

  • Pratai@lemmy.ca
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    1 year ago

    Wait…. A homophobic bigot associates with homophobic bigots?

    Say it ain’t so!!

  • paraphrand@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Writing forwards in conspiracy theory books while working to block real UAP legislation.

    What a fucking tool.

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldB
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    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    The book also propagates baseless and inaccurate claims, implying that Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts was subjected to blackmail and connected to the disgraced underage sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

    While McKay remains ambiguous in his book regarding the elements he asserts weren’t disproven, he explicitly writes on his public Facebook page that the conspiracy related to code words was not debunked and goes as far as labeling Podesta as a pedophile.

    Jared Holt, an expert on right wing conspiracy theories at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a think-tank that studies disinformation, told CNN that Johnson’s promotion of the book raised questions about the new House speaker’s judgment.

    Another section takes aim at poor voters, who the author calls, “unsophisticated and susceptible to government dependency” and says they are easily manipulated with “bowdlerizing old monuments, or midnight basketball, or Black Lives Matter ‘defund the police’ pandering.”

    McKay’s book also shares other unfounded conspiracy theories, including the debunked claim that the Democratic National Committee’s emails in 2016 were not hacked but leaked by a staffer named Seth Rich.

    The book targets and taunts prominent Democratic officials, including calling Interior Secretary Deb Haaland “half oppressed” because her mother is Native American and father is of Norwegian descent and writes that former President Barack Obama’s “chief selling point was that he was black.”


    The original article contains 970 words, the summary contains 220 words. Saved 77%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!