Mike Johnson's Christmas Photo Raises Questions

House Speaker Mike Johnson's Christmas photo sparks questions as people on social media noticed that one of his sons was missing.

Johnson, a conservative Republican from Louisiana, has long promoted Christian family values. He expressed anti-LGBTQ views when he worked for the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) in the early 2000s and has co-sponsored several anti-abortion bills since he was elected to Congress in 2016.

The congressman posted a photo on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday of him and his family and said, "Merry Christmas and many blessing from our family to you and yours."

The photo included Johnson, his wife Kelly, and his four biological children, which prompted people to ask where Johnson's adopted adult Black son, Michael, was.

"Where's your black son?" X user @mrusk745 wrote.

X user @summer757 wrote, "Where is your black adopted son? You did not invite him and his 4 kids?"

"Aren't we missing someone?" wrote X user @worldwidewade.

Newsweek reached out to Johnson via email for comment.

Johnson and his wife adopted Michael when he was 14 years old.

The congressman has spoken publicly about Michael, usually when talking about how his experience with his son helped shape his views on race in America.

In 2019, Johnson talked about this experience while testifying against reparations for slavery.

"I have walked with him through discrimination that he has had to endure over the years and the hurdles he sometimes faced," he told a House committee. "I know all this because I was with him."

However, Michael does not appear in campaign material for privacy reasons.

"When Speaker Johnson first ran for Congress in 2016, he and his wife, Kelly, spoke to their son Michael—who they took in as newlyweds when Michael was 14 years old," Corinne Day, communications director for Johnson, told Newsweek in October.

"At the time of the Speaker's election to Congress, Michael was an adult with a family of his own. He asked not to be involved in their new public life. The Speaker has respected that sentiment throughout his career and maintains a close relationship with Michael to this day."

Michael later praised his family in a Daily Mail interview for making him feel "loved like I was a part of their family," while adding that he thanks "God all the time for giving them both the strength, patience, and unwavering faith that inspired me to do better and be better."

Before running for public office, Johnson served as senior legal counsel for the ADF, from 2002 to 2010. The ADF has been labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which states that ADF called for the re-criminalization of sexual acts between consenting LGBTQ+ adults in the U.S.

In a 2004 editorial for The Shreveport Times, Johnson described homosexuality as "inherently unnatural" and a "dangerous lifestyle," CNN reported.

Shortly after being elected Speaker in late October, EMILYs List, a political action committee aimed at electing women who support abortion rights, put Johnson "On Notice" for 2024. This is a list of incumbent representatives who support anti-abortion policies.