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Mike Johnson claims he has votes to launch Biden impeachment inquiry, Internet asks him to 'show the evidence'

Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, stated that the move to launch a formal impeachment inquiry vote against Joe Biden was the 'necessary step'

SHREVEPORT, LOUISIANA: New GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson has found himself thrust into an unusual spotlight after claiming that he believes House Republicans have the votes to launch a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.

During an appearance on Fox News with Rep Elise Stefanik (R-NY), another member of the House GOP leadership, Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, stated that the move to launch a formal impeachment inquiry vote against Biden was the "necessary step".

“A formal impeachment inquiry vote on the floor will allow us to take it to the next necessary step and I think it is something we have to do at this juncture,” Johnson said.

“It's become a necessary step. Elise and I both served on the impeachment defense team of Donald Trump twice, when the Democrats used it for brazen partisan political purposes. We decried that use of it. This is very different,” he added.

Johnson went on to claim that he thinks Republicans now have the votes required to start the investigation, adding, "I believe we will. I suspect no Democrats will assist in this effort, but they should."

"Our three committees of jurisdiction — judiciary, oversight, ways and means — have been doing an extraordinary job following the evidence where it leads,” the Speaker said.

“Now we're being stonewalled by the White House because they're preventing at least two to three DOJ witnesses from coming forward a former White House counsel, the national archives, the White House has withheld thousands of pages of evidence,” he continued.

White House calls Mike Johnson’s remarks 'baseless'

Ian Sams, a spokesman for the White House counsel’s office, called Johnson’s remarks “baseless” in a statement to CNN.

“This is a baseless, politically-motivated attempt to smear President Biden with lies, and it reflects how this chaotic House GOP is focused on the wrong priorities when they should be working on real issues Americans actually care about like the President is,” the statement read.

House Republicans have been pushing to formalize their impeachment inquiry into President Biden but have not yet had the amount of votes needed to do so.

Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who charged Biden with being a part of a "culture of corruption," opened the investigation in September.

“House Republicans have uncovered serious and credible allegations into President Biden's conduct,” McCarthy said at that time.

McCarthy faced tremendous pressure to take this action from the party's conservative flank, which included threats to have him removed.

In a closed-door meeting earlier this week, GOP Majority Whip Tom Emmer informed the members that there may be a vote on launching the investigation in the coming weeks.

Circling back with a vote to authorize the inquiry signals the House is far from an actual vote on impeaching the president.

In November, Johnson said the House was nearing a decision on whether or not to vote on articles of impeachment - the final step in the process - not an inquiry.

"I do believe that very soon we are coming to a point of decision on it," he said on November 2

Internet reacts to Mike Johnson’s remarks on Biden impeachment inquiry

Johnson’s remarks have garnered immense social media attention, with users asking for evidence to support his claims that Republicans have the votes to launch a formal impeachment inquiry into Biden.

“Show the evidence,” one user said. “Too bad that they don't have any evidence,” the second user wrote.

“The amount of time this wastes should be factored out of their salaries,” the third user said, while the fourth asserted, “He may have the votes, but where is the evidence? It’s all speculation at this point.”

“The evidence disagrees. but if the GOP wants to go down the anti-Rule of Law path then go for it,” the fifth stated.

“They don’t have a reason… just Republicans who will vote to impeach with no reason,” one more said.