House Speaker Mike Johnson endorses Trump, defends 'stolen election' claims
House Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday endorsed Donald Trump for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, while defending the former president's efforts to reverse his 2020 election loss to President Joe Biden.

"I'm all in for President Trump," Johnson said on CNBC's "Squawk Box." "I expect he'll be our nominee, and we have to make Biden a one-term president."

Johnson suggested he had already thrown his weight behind Trump, saying, "I have endorsed him wholeheartedly." But it was unclear when the Louisiana Republican had previously given Trump his official backing.

Trump had not officially endorsed Johnson when he became the Republican Party's fourth nominee for speaker last month, amid a drawn-out scramble to replace ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.

But Trump gave what he called a "strong suggestion" to "go with the leading candidate, Mike Johnson, & get it done, fast!"

Trump has dominated the 2024 Republican presidential field, but it is unusual for a party's leader in Congress to publicly endorse a candidate this early in the race, before the first primary vote has been cast.

Johnson endorsed Trump in 2020, and he backed Trump's efforts to overturn his Electoral College loss to Biden. Johnson led a Supreme Court brief signed by more than 100 other House Republicans in support of a Texas lawsuit that aimed to discount the election results in key states that Trump lost.