Asked Sunday by ABC’s George Stephonopoulos whether he believed the 2020 presidential election was won by Joe Biden/lost by Trump, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) demurred, deriding it as a “gotcha” question.

“This is the game that is always played by mainstream media with leading Republicans,” Johnson complained.

He added:

You want us to litigate things that happened four years ago when we’re talking about the future. We’re not gonna talk about what happened in 2020, we’re gonna talk about 2024 and how we’re gonna solve the problems for the American people.

Except, understanding the 2020 outcome, and asking Republicans whether they still feel, wrongly, that it was “stolen” from Trump, IS still important. Because Trump is laying the foundation to do the exact same thing he did in 2020 — “win” an election through illegal means.

Johnson’s bemusing response to this issue is important, too. It shows a callous view of recent history, a rewriting of the unlawful actions by Trump, and an attempt to reframe it as a simple disagreement that we need to “move on” from.

I’m not ready to move on. Are you?

We need lawmakers in power who have a respect for the democratic process. Mike Johnson, in childlishly refusing to answer the question (which should be a simple yes or no), is showing he isn’t that kind of leader. And hopefully, he will be out of his current position after this election.

Featured image credit: Gage Skidmore/Flickr