WATCH: Dem Strategist Says 'Christian Nationalist' Mike Johnson Is A 'Bigger Threat Than al-Qaeda'

On Friday, Democrat strategist James Carville joined Bill Maher on HBO's 'Real Time with Bill Maher' to slam newly-elected Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA), claiming that "Christian nationalists" like him were more dangerous than the terrorist group al-Qaeda. Johnson has repeatedly expressed his Christian faith during press interviews and in speeches following his elevation to the third most powerful position in Washington, D.C.

"Mike Johnson and what he believes is one of the greatest threats we have today to the United States. I promise you, I know these people," Carville told Maher. "This is a bigger threat than al-Qaeda to this country." 

"And let me tell you something: the speaker of the House, they got probably at least two Supreme Court justices, maybe more, don't kid yourself. People in the press have no idea who this guy is… This is a fundamental threat to the United States. It is a fundamental thing. [They] don't believe in the Constitution. They'll tell you that. Mike Johnson himself says what is democracy but two wolves and a lamb having lunch? That's what they really, really, really believe."

"And to say, 'Oh, come on, man. It's just some crazy sh*t.' No, no. They believe that. And they're coming, and they've been doing it forever," the HBO guest argued. "They're funded. They're funded. They're relentless, and, you know, they probably won't win for a while, but they might. And if they do, the whole country blows a gasket."

Speaker Johnson responded to Carville's attacks, writing, "It's twisted and shameful that a leading Democrat strategist says millions of Christians in America are a greater threat than foreign terrorists who murdered more than 3,000 Americans. The Democratic Party should condemn this. But they won't."

Bill Maher also went after Speaker Johnson on Friday during his closing monologue, per Fox News. "Mike thinks God personally chooses, raises up our leaders, which is a very dangerous thought because then, when you lose an election you think it's just another of God's tricks to test your faith. Mike says we began as a Christian nation. We didn't," Maher told his Los Angeles audience. "Did you miss that day in homeschool, Mike? If you don't know that the Pilgrims came here to get away from the Church of England, then you don't know, literally, the first thing about our country."

"Mike says being a Christian nation is our tradition and it's who we are as a people. It's not. We're the people who have a First Amendment that says, 'Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.' And we have an Article Six which says 'no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office,'" he continued. "So I take these people at their word when they say that they think we should be Christian nationalists. But then they have to take John Adams at his word when he wrote, 'The government of the United States of America is not in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.'"

Conservative commentators on X/Twitter blasted Carville for his comments, with podcaster Jesse Kelly writing, "Don't get mad at James Carville for: 1. Saying how they all feel. & 2. Properly preparing his people mentally. Language leads to mindset. Mindset leads to performance. We're fighting 'liberals'. They're fighting 'terrorists'."

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