WASHINGTON — Speaker Mike Johnson was taking in former President Donald Trump’s grievance-fueled closing rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday afternoon when the main actor onstage turned to him and drew him into the drama.

“I think with our little secret we’re going to do really well with the House, right?” Trump said, addressing Johnson directly. “Our little secret is having a big impact. He and I have a little secret — we will tell you what it is when the race is over.”

This aside, delivered with a small chuckle, set off a frenzy among frightened Democrats who have been living with something akin to post-traumatic stress disorder caused by the past two presidential election cycles, and who are now primed to fear the worst.

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Election Fraud Scare Spreads

In this case, the worst is very bad: It is a scenario in which Johnson, who worked with Trump to undermine the 2020 election results, would again be in cahoots with the former president to steal the election and stop the certification of the results on Jan. 6 should Vice President Kamala Harris win.

In a statement provided to The New York Times, the mild-mannered Johnson did nothing to alleviate those fears. Instead, he seemed to confirm that there was, in fact, a “little secret” — and that he planned to keep it that way.

“Speaking of secrets,” Johnson said, “Harris knew Biden was physically and mentally impaired and kept it a secret. The FBI knew the Hunter Biden laptop was real and kept it secret. They also knew Russia collusion was fake and kept that a secret, too.”

Johnson added: “It appears that all those secrets didn’t matter to the media because they all helped Democrats. But this one might help Donald Trump, and now they care? By definition, a secret is not to be shared — and I don’t intend to share this one.”

Johnson’s blustery statement was striking not just for its groundless claims presented as facts. It also seemed to validate that Trump was actually referring to something specific, and not just speaking with his regular vagueness that allows listeners to hear whatever they want.

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Some Shrug This off as Riff

Some people familiar with Trump’s tactics shrugged it off as a riff that meant very little — or possibly nothing at all. They said he was most likely referring to so-called tele-rallies with Republican members of Congress that he has been participating in regularly, such as one he held before the Madison Square Garden rally, hosted by Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York and attended by eight GOP incumbents and candidates from her state.

They also noted that he liked to poke his detractors and might have enjoyed the frenzy the comment created among Democrats.

“President Trump has done countless tele-rallies reaching millions of Americans across the country in key regions that also help bolster Republicans in congressional races,” said Steven Cheung, a Trump spokesperson, when asked about what the “little secret” comment meant.

Either way, the episode was a reminder of how difficult it can be to determine whether Trump’s musings are insignificant chatter, serious statements of intent or something in between.

Johnson, for his part, has contemplated the uncomfortable position he might be in, in the unlikely scenario that he is reelected speaker of the House, Harris wins the presidency and there are threats of violence around the Jan. 6 electoral certification by Congress.

“I don’t think we’ll see anything like that. I certainly pray and hope that’s true,” he told CBS News anchor Margaret Brennan this month. “There’s a lot of great work that’s been done at the federal, state and local level to prevent the chaos that ensued after 2020, the COVID election year, when all the states were changing their laws and regulations.” Johnson added that he was praying for a “free and fair, legal election across the board.”

Democratic nightmares about what havoc Johnson could wreak may, in fact, be overblown. It is the vice president who presides over the certification of the election, not the speaker. And an overhaul of the Electoral Count Act, which Congress passed after the Jan. 6, 2021, mob attack on the Capitol, tightened the safeguards around the process to make it less likely to happen again.

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Johnson Would Not Be a Powerless Bystander

Still, Johnson would not be a powerless bystander. He could help organize Republican lawsuits or pressure state boards of elections to throw out legitimate votes. He could reject the electors from certain states, and he could try to refuse to seat new Democratic members of the House.

“I do not have faith that Mike Johnson will fulfill his constitutional obligations,” former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said this month on “Meet The Press,” referring to Congress’ role in certifying the election.

Some Democratic lawmakers said they heard Trump’s comment and saw no reason to give him or Johnson any benefit of the doubt.

Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., said that given Johnson’s role in trying to undermine the 2020 presidential election results, he assumed the secret was a “backup plan” for if Trump loses and together they try to overturn the election.

“There’s a lot of ability for a bad actor to mess with the Electoral College if he’s the speaker of the House,” Goldman said in an interview. “If I’m wrong, they should say so. Trump has a lot of secrets: His medical records are secret, his taxes are secret, his phone calls with Vladimir Putin are secret. Clearly, he hides a lot from the American people. Now, he’s openly stated that he’s hiding something from the electorate.”

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Annie Karni/Kenny Holston
c. 2024 The New York Times Company