众议院议长迈克·约翰逊拒绝了CNN首席国会记者马努·拉朱关于让新当选民主党议员就职的提问，称其为“荒谬叙事”。在爱荷华州为共和党众议员扎克·纳恩助选期间——纳恩的席位是民主党在下周中期选举前重点争取的目标之一——约翰逊回答了拉朱关于唐纳德·特朗普总统及共和党在选举期间及之后的政治策略的提问。
House Speaker Mike Johnson rejected a question from CNN chief congressional correspondent Manu Raju about seating newly elected Democrats as a "nonsense narrative." While campaigning in Iowa for Republican Rep. Zach Nunn, whose seat is among those Democrats are targeting ahead of next week's midterm elections, Johnson fielded questions from Raju about President Donald Trump and the GOP's political strategy during the elections and beyond.
“你会承诺让所有在1月3日获胜的民主党人就职吗？”拉朱问道，指的是当选议员宣誓就职的那一天。
"Will you vow to seat every Democrat who wins on January 3rd?" Raju asked, referring to the day elected members will be sworn in.
“当然，这是荒谬叙事，”约翰逊回答。“我们将遵守法律。”“如果特朗普说‘这是一场舞弊的选举’呢？”拉朱追问。
"Of course, this is a nonsense narrative," Johnson replied. "We are going to follow the law." "What if Trump says ‘it's a rigged election’?" Raju asked.
“听着，我是一名宪法律师。在这件事上我一直保持稳重和一贯立场。这将是一场无戏剧性的宣誓仪式，但我们将保持多数党地位，而我将成为众议院议长，”约翰逊说。“当我监誓时，将在1月3日举行一次宣誓。我们将让所有人宣誓。”拉朱继续追问：“如果特朗普说‘别让他们就职’，你会抵制吗？”
"Look, I'm a constitutional attorney. I've always been steady and consistent about this. This is going to be a no-drama swearing-in ceremony, but we're going to hold the majority, and I'm going to be the Speaker of the House," Johnson said. "And when I administer the oath, there will be one on January 3rd. We'll administer the oath to everybody." Raju pressed Johnson, "If Trump says 'don't seat them,' you'll resist, then?"
“我将履行我的职责，作为众议院议长，”约翰逊回答。“总统当然也誓言要遵守法律。事情就会这样发展。”约翰逊还为特朗普介入中期选举竞选进行了辩护，称他对共和党的获胜机会“毫无拖累”。
"I'll do my job as the Speaker of the House," Johnson replied. "The president has vowed, of course, he wants to follow the law as well. That's what's going to happen." Johnson also defended Trump’s involvement in midterm races, saying he is having "no drag at all" on Republicans’ chances.
“我在实地见过选民，我告诉你们民调是错的，它们不准确，低估了共和党，而且许多民调机构都承认了这一点，”他说。“民调不准确，共和党人不再回应民调了。”拉朱质疑这一评估，询问为何共和党在传统共和党选区大量投入资金。“你们在深度共和党选区花费数百万美元，”拉朱说。
"I’ve seen the voters on the ground, and I’m telling you the polls are wrong, they are inaccurate, they’re underrepresenting Republicans and many of the pollsters have admitted that," he said. "The polling isn’t accurate, the Republicans aren’t responding anymore." Raju challenged that assessment, questioning why Republicans were spending heavily in traditionally Republican districts. "You're spending millions in deep Republican districts," Raju said.
约翰逊回应称，爱荷华州是共和党“总是赢，但很胶着”的州，并表示全国各地都存在关键选区，尤其是在最近重新划分选区之后。
Johnson responded that Iowa is a state where Republicans "always win, but it's close" and said battleground districts exist across the country, particularly following recent redistricting efforts.
“我们必须在现有的选区中获胜，我们正倾尽全力去实现这一点，”他说。
"We have to win in the districts that are presented, and we’re leaving everything on the field to get it done," he said.
共和党顾问、前美国参议院高级顾问玛丽·马斯伦德在接受福克斯新闻数字频道采访时批评了拉朱的提问。
Mary Marslender, a GOP consultant and former senior advisor to the U.S. Senate, criticized Raju's questioning in comments to Fox News Digital. "CNN is once again pushing a fake narrative — color me shocked.
“CNN再次推行虚假叙事——我一点都不惊讶。马努·拉朱不应追逐一个不存在的‘特朗普不会让民主党人就职’的故事，而应专注于报道重要新闻，”马斯伦德说。“美国人关心物价、工资、边境和犯罪问题。如果记者报道这些真实议题，或许他们的受众就不会持续流失。约翰逊议长的回答符合法律和众议院标准程序。拉朱反复提出假设性问题，暴露的更多是CNN想讲的故事，而非任何阻挠议员就职的实际计划。” 福克斯新闻数字频道已联系约翰逊办公室和CNN寻求进一步置评，但暂未收到回复。
Instead of chasing a nonexistent 'Trump won’t seat Democrats' story, Manu Raju should focus on reporting the news that matters," Marslender said. "Americans are concerned about costs, wages, the border, and crime. If reporters covered those real issues, perhaps their audiences wouldn’t keep shrinking. Speaker Johnson’s answers were consistent with both the law and standard House procedure. Raju’s repeated hypotheticals reveal more about the story CNN wants to tell than any actual plan to block lawmakers." Fox News Digital reached out to Johnson's office and CNN for additional comment but did not immediately receive responses.