In a striking revelation, a new Politico report unveils the deep connections between House Speaker Mike Johnson and a controversial Christian publishing house that believes “monkeypox” is “an inevitable and appropriate penalty” for being gay and that former President Obama could be the Antichrist because of “leanings toward Islam.”
Johnson has been a board member of Living Waters Publications for the last decade and was interviewed on founder and CEO Ray Comfort’s podcast, which was recently deleted. (Last month, Johnson’s toddler-voiced wife, Kelly, scrubbed her homophobic beliefs from her own Christian counseling website.)
From Politico:
Last year, Comfort narrated a Living Waters video, titled “Monkeypox and God: Is It a ‘Gay Disease’?” in which he quoted Biblical scripture saying that those who engaged in homosexual acts would get “in their own bodies the inevitable and appropriate penalty for their wrongdoing.” (The virus was previously known as monkeypox, but last year the World Health Organization changed the name to mpox, saying the term monkeypox could be seen as stigmatizing and racist.)
In a Living Waters article published in March, Comfort also bemoaned the fact that Christians could no longer call homosexuality “morally wrong.” “There was a time in America when we could say these things without any real repercussions,” he noted.
In an attempt to distance himself from Comfort’s vile beliefs, Johnson ordered his spokesperson to issue a strange statement. “Speaker Johnson joined the board of Living Waters years ago in support of its mission of spreading Christian gospel,” the spokesperson said. “His involvement was limited to two phone calls with fellow board members annually. He had not seen the content in question, was not aware of it, and does not agree with it.”
Comfort himself refused to comment, and remains on the board of Living Waters Publications.
