South Dakota Republican gubernatorial candidate Dusty Johnson is the latest example of an individual with a horrid anti-Trump voting and statement record who is attempting to capture a key elected position in a state that President Trump has overwhelmingly won three times. Johnson can best be described as a Liz Cheney fanboy, given the fact that he issued statements and votes of support for Liz Cheney to remain in a House GOP leadership position despite her involvement with the January 6th Committee. Johnson himself, like Cheney, used the left’s weaponized lawfare as an excuse to distance himself from President Trump.
In May 2021, Dusty Johnson gave an interview with South Dakota media, defending his vote to keep January 6th Committee member Liz Cheney in House Leadership. Johnson praised Cheney during the interview, saying:
“The reality is, she (Liz Cheney) is a strong, conservative, independent voice, and I think we need to make room in leadership for those kinds of qualities.”
Johnson also has similar January 6th beliefs as his friend Liz Cheney. During a 2023 interview, as news was breaking that Jack Smith would indict President Trump over January 6th, Johnson stated that January 6th was a big deal as he refused to decisively support President Trump, saying:
“Well, January 6 was a stain on American history for sure. Listen, it was a dangerous day. I know there are people who try to paper over that, make it seem like, ah, it wasn’t that big a deal. Listen, it was a big deal. It was a sacred constitutional act Congress needed to pursue that day and there are people who tried to interrupt it. It was a big problem.”
Johnson was then asked if he blamed President Trump for January 6th, to which he replied:
“Well, I certainly think the president could have done a number of things better that day. I think some of his messaging was positive toward the end of the day. It took a long time and I think there would have been an opportunity for things to be far less disruptive had some of those messages come earlier.”
Dusty Johnson also has a very pro-January 6th Committee congressional voting record, as he was one of 34 House Republicans to vote YES for the creation of the January 6th Committee.
Johnson’s congressional voting record is also littered with votes against President Trump’s agenda. Johnson stood with Mike Pence, Thomas Massie and elected Democrats as one of the few House Republicans to vote to certify Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 election. Johnson’s statement on the matter reads:
“The Constitution is more important than my personal political views or my political popularity. There is no constitutional basis for Congress to substitute its judgment for that of the states and courts. There is only one sentence in the Constitution that addresses Congress’s role on Jan 6.”
On January 8th, 2021, Johnson published an article on his official congressional website titled “Tested” where he again justified his vote to certify Joe Biden as the winner of the presidential election, writing:
“The Constitution is more important than my personal political views or my political popularity.”
Even more concerning is the fact that Johnson voted against President Trump’s border wall in 2019, voting with Congressional Democrats to end President Trump’s emergency declaration, which secured the funds to build the border wall.
Interestingly, during an interview, Johnson gave a Liz Cheney-like response as to why he voted against Trump’s border wall, citing his principles, saying:
“So the principles I’ve got about separation of powers and making sure Congress maintains its constitutional authority, those are values I hold regardless of whether it’s my party in the White House or maybe crazy Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris or someone who may come after.”
Dusty Johnson only became more like Liz Cheney as the interview continued, and he essentially stated he did not care if his South Dakota constituents or President Trump were angry at him over his vote against Trump’s border wall. Johnson took his remarks even further, seemingly implying that Trump voters are violent, when he stated he doesn’t vote out of fear:
“Anybody who comes to Congress and wants to be popular is in the wrong place. Anyone who’s making decisions out of fear and an attempt to please everyone on the planet, they’re going to make bad decisions.”
Johnson’s anti-Trump record continued as Trump ran for reelection, first beginning with Johnson’s refusal to endorse Trump or appear with him at a 2023 Trump rally in South Dakota. During a 2023 interview with South Dakota media, Johnson seemed to use the witch hunts the Democrats were conducting against President Trump as his excuse for why he didn’t endorse Trump for the upcoming 2024 GOP Presidential primary:
“Maybe I’m old school, but I feel like you actually want to get to the bottom of things before you come to judgment… Endorsing candidates is not something I do.”
Johnson has continued his anti-Trump criticism into Trump’s second term. During an April interview, Johnson attacked President Trump over his supposed “lack of communication” regarding the Iran strikes, saying:
“They (the Trump administration) need to do a better job. The last couple of weeks, I don’t think they have done as good a job of that. And if we’re going to do this, we need to make sure that the American people and Congress are aware of what we’re doing and why and what the end game looks like.”
In reality, President Trump and his administration clearly communicated the mission’s objective, which was to prevent Iran from ever obtaining a nuclear weapon.
Dusty Johnson’s record has shown time and time again that he is against President Trump, but in support of RINOs like Liz Cheney. South Dakota voters have an obligation to send Dusty packing on Tuesday and vote against him in the South Dakota GOP Gubernatorial primary on June 2, 2026.
