In a preview on Tuesday of his interview with Donald Trump’s former press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, Johnson said he wasn’t “surprised” that people are digging up information about his past.
McEnany asked Johnson for his thoughts on being characterized as a “religious fundamentalist” by former White House press secretary Jen Psaki and other critics.
“Look, there are entire industries that are built to take down public leaders, political leaders like me. I’m not surprised by that,” Johnson said.
He added: “I’m not trying to establish Christianity as the national religion or something, that’s not what this is about at all. If you truly believe in the Bible’s commands and you seek to follow those, it is impossible to be a hateful person.”
Johnson might have intended for his comments to ease voters’ minds, but people on social media did not seem reassured.