Steve Bannon Rips Mike Johnson's Religious Views: 'It's All Talk'

Conservative media personality and former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon said Thursday that House Speaker Mike Johnson's religious views are "all talk."

When Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, won the speakership in late October, his history as a devout Christian—with some even calling him a Christian nationalist—came into the spotlight.

But Bannon questioned Johnson's dedication to the Christian faith after House Republicans helped pass the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on Thursday.

"Speaker Johnson, just unacceptable," Bannon said in a recent episode of his conservative podcast War Room on the streaming platform Real America's Voice. "You talk a big game about Christianity. You talk a big game about a biblical worldview. You talk a big game about Moses and the Red Sea and all that. It's all talk. Talk, talk, talk."

The $886 billion NDAA, which lays out how the Pentagon will be funded through the 2024 fiscal year, was passed by the Senate on Wednesday night and then by the House on Thursday.

Republicans added amendments to a version of the bill passed by the House over the summer aimed at blocking the Pentagon's abortion policy and its funding of gender-affirming surgery. But the amendments did not make it to the final bill, which President Joe Biden is expected to sign into law.

"If you had the stones and the balls, you could shut this thing down right now," Bannon said. "The NDAA just passed. It just passed. This is Mike Johnson, and don't tell me you're a Christian. I don't want to hear you're Christian. Don't wear your faith. Don't give me the Bible.

"I don't want to hear more Bible verses when you've allowed the transgender, you've allowed all that garbage, all that demonic trash throughout the defense budget. So don't give me the biblical worldview."

The NDAA was passed by the House in a 310-118 vote. A total of 73 Republicans and 45 Democrats voted against to bill.

In his first speech as House speaker, Johnson said that there are "no coincidences" and he got elected as the Bible teaches that God "raises up those in authority." Johnson said that God has "allowed and ordained each and every one of us to be here at this specific moment."

Johnson told the Louisiana Baptist Message during his first congressional bid in 2016 that his faith pushed him to run for office.

"Some people are called to pastoral ministry and others to music ministry, etc.," he said. "I was called to legal ministry and I've been out on the front lines of the 'culture war' defending religious freedom, the sanctity of human life, and biblical values, including the defense of traditional marriage, and other ideals like these when they've been under assault."

Newsweek reached out to Johnson via email and Bannon via phone for comment.