Who is Mike Johnson's 'adopted' Black son? Speaker shares how his family's story is similar to 'The Blind Side'
SHREVEPORT, LOUISIANA: After facing severe scrutiny, the new GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson has come forward to address the public absence of his "adopted" Black son, Michael.
The 51-year-old Johnson, who is the vice chair of the House Republican Conference, became the newly elected speaker of the House as he secured 220 votes on Wednesday, October 24 after several failed attempts to find Kevin McCarthy’s successor.
When Johnson was named House speaker, his relationship with Michael faced scrutiny, like other aspects of his personal and political life. Several questions were raised after many noticed that his adopted son Michael was not pictured in a family portrait posted on the Republican’s official site.
Michael was only a teenager when Johnson and his wife Kelly adopted him nearly 24 years ago. Not much is known about his life but in a 2020 interview, Johnson revealed that Michael is in his mid-30s and is living in California with four children.
“He shares his testimony that were it not for our intervention in his life, he would certainly have joined a gang, gotten on drugs, wound up in prison, or died on the street somewhere. And that’s the harsh reality that we have here,” the Louisiana Republican, said according to the Independent.
Mike Johnson addresses his Black son’s public absence
Now, with his new job putting him under close scrutiny, Johson was forced to talk about the public absence of his adopted son, whom he previously mentioned so frequently.
“When Speaker Johnson first ran for Congress in 2016, he and his wife, Kelly, spoke to their son Michael—who they took in as newlyweds when Michael was 14 years old,” Johnson’s Communications Director Corinne Day told Newsweek on Friday, October 27.
“At the time of the Speaker’s election to Congress, Michael was an adult with a family of his own. He asked not to be involved in their new public life,” she added.
“The Speaker has respected that sentiment throughout his career and maintains a close relationship with Michael to this day,” the communications director continued.
Additionally, Day explained that the Johnsons did not formally adopt Michael because of the “lengthy adoption process,” according to the New York Times.
Mike Johnson explains how his family's story is similar to 'The Blind Side'
In 2019, Johnson, who is White, was testifying against reparations for slavery when he described his relationship with Michael in the context of race.
“I have walked with him through discrimination that he has had to endure over the years and the hurdles he sometimes faced,” he said at the time.
“I know all this because I was with him.” He added that his son also opposed reparations because it strayed from an “important tradition of self-reliance,” the Republican continued.
Following George Floyd's death, the congressman brought up Michael once more, this time comparing his experiences with those of his biological son, Jack.
“Michael is a Black American and Jack is white Caucasian. They have different challenges. My son Jack has an easier path. He just does,” he said during a 2020 PBS interview.
He then continued by drawing comparisons between 'The Blind Side' and his and his wife's decision to take "custody" of Michael decades ago.
“Have you seen the story ‘The Blind Side’? That was our story, except my Michael was not an NFL prospect…we took him in as our own,” he told the host.