Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson was profiled in a German news segment as he attended a “purity ball” with his teenage daughter, during a bizarre prom-like ritual that required her to take a vow of abstinence.
Johnson, 51, and his then 13-year-old daughter, Hannah, were exhumed n-tv news images from 2015 in preparation for the controversial dance, which one reporter notes “looks like a wedding.”
“But they are not bride and groom – rather father and… daughter,” the reporter adds, as Johnson is seen wearing a black tuxedo and his young daughter in a white dress. The segment was first reported by ABC news.
The lawmaker's presence at the religious event comes after he raised eyebrows following his surprise appointment as speaker in October as he was forced to defend statements including same-sex marriage “the dark harbinger of chaos and sexual anarchy.”
Mike Johnson was seen in unearthed 2015 footage of a German news channel attending a 'purity ball' with his daughter Hannah
Hannah, then 13, was wearing a white dress when a news reporter commented that her presence with her father “looked like a wedding.” During the event, she signed a pledge to abstain from any sexual activity until marriage
The 51-year-old Louisiana representative was a little-known congressman when he was elected speaker of the House of Representatives in October.
Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, shares four children with his wife Kelly (seen together), who was heard in the archive footage saying she refuses to talk to her daughters about contraception because “premarital sex is simply out of the question.”
The first “purity ball” was thrown in Colorado Springs in 1998, when activist Randy Wilson got other fathers to sign a pledge to protect the virginity of their unmarried teenage daughters. New York Times.
The idea then grew in popularity among some conservative Christian groups in the early 2000s, typically involving a father and teenage daughter dressing in formal wedding attire.
They enjoyed dinner and dancing afterwards, before the evening ended with the daughter signing a pledge to her father to abstain from any sexual activity until marriage.
Critics of 'purity balls' have claimed that it is a coercive and unproductive idea that does little except objectify the young girls they aim to 'protect'.
Johnson was seen in footage shared by Newsnation's Dan Abrams as he attended a 2015 event broadcast on German TV about the then-rising demand for “purity balls.”
Johnson, his wife Kelly and Hannah gave interviews to the German news channel about their reasons for attending, with the 13-year-old committing “to a life of purity, including sexual purity.”
Johnson said he attended the “purity ball” with his daughter Hannah (far left) because “there are predators and there are prey,” and he hoped she would learn “to stay away from the wolves that way.” They are pictured with his wife Kelly and children (L-R) Abigail, Will and Jack
Hannah also promised her father “to make a promise to God, myself, my family, my friends, my future husband and my future children,” as Johnson nodded in agreement.
He told the show that he took his daughter to the event because “there are predators and there are prey,” and he hoped she would learn to “stay away from the wolves that way.”
Johnson's wife Kelly, a former teacher turned Christian counselor, added that her parents “don't talk to (Hannah) about contraception” because “premarital sex is simply out of the question.”
The unearthed footage from eight years ago is the latest example of Speaker Johnson's extreme religious beliefs that only came to light after he rose to No. 2 in the presidential line of succession.
After the images of the 'purity ball' were revealed, many shared their disapproval of the event on social media with journalists Victoria Brownworth called it “so incredibly creepy.”
“If that's not weird stuff, I don't know what is,” another viewer added.
His previous comments that have sparked backlash include calling abortion “truly an American Holocaust,” and labeling same-sex marriage a “moral lapse” that “could doom even the strongest Republic.”
Johnson has stoked fears about his possible role in the 2024 presidential election after supporting Donald Trump's efforts to halt the certification of the 2020 results.
Following his appointment as chairman, some expressed fears about his potential role in the 2024 presidential election after he helped defend efforts to stop the certification of the 2020 presidential election results for Joe Biden.
He has worked with anti-LGBTQ organizations and indicated that after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade — which established the right to abortion — in June, the court should next consider same-sex marriage.
He was a little-known congressman when Kevin McCarthy was fired as chairman in October and was quickly asked to clarify where his hardline beliefs came from.
“Get a Bible off the shelf and read it,” he told Fox News. “That's my worldview.”
Fox News' Sean Hannity asked about the 51-year-old lawmaker's work as spokesman for the Alliance Defense Fund, where he called homosexuality “sinfully destructive” and stated that there is “no clear right to sodomy in the Constitution.”
He claimed he could not remember some of his statements, insisting: “I also genuinely love all people regardless of their lifestyle choices. It's not about the people themselves. I am a Bible-believing Christian.”