Luke Radel, a student journalist at Syracuse University, asked Johnson (R-La.) about Trump’s recent comments that the CHIPS and Science Act is “so bad.”
“You voted against it,” said Radel. “If you have a Republican majority in Congress and Trump in the White House, will you guys try to repeal that law?”
“I expect that we probably will, but we haven’t developed that part of the agenda yet,” said Johnson before attempting to pivot to talking about Rep. Brandon Williams, a Republican who represents New York’s 22nd District, where a $100 billion Micron Technology chipmaking facility has benefited from the CHIPS and Science Act.
[…]
The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) echoed the congresswoman [Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s] sentiment, saying Johnson’s plan to repeal the CHIPS Act would impact “tens of thousands of IBEW jobs created by this administration.”
“We are NOT going back,” said the union.
Johnson’s remark got the attention of other politicians whose states have benefited from the law, including [Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.)], Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas), and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
[…]
I suspect he didn’t remember what it was and took a gamble on the reporter’s qualification that Johnson had voted against it and Trump opposed it, rather than sounding uninformed. Otherwise it’s just an extraordinarily stupid thing to admit in this situation.