Readers of a certain age will remember the mystery of Chuck Cunningham, the basketball-dribbling older brother of Happy Day‘s chief protagonist in the early days of the series, Richie. Chuck made appearances in the first two seasons of the popular series, curiously portrayed by two different actors, and then–poof!–not a mention of him again. Chuck Cunningham, star athlete, was disappeared. He was un-personed in Howard and Marion’s life. He was no longer a Cunningham. Hell, he was no longer.
Talking Points Memo reports a similar mystery in new House Speaker Mike Johnson’s life: his disappearing Black son. During the social unrest after George Floyd’s 2020 murder at the hands of police, Johnson did an interview in which he talked about how his 14-year-old adopted Black son named Michael faced additional problems because of his race than his 14-year-old biological son did.
Johnson also mentioned his adopted Black son, Michael, in a 2019 House committee hearing discussing reparations for slavery. (Michael was against reparations, Johnson said.). Curiously, Johnson explained that he and his wife took in Michael when they were newlyweds. “We took custody of Michael and made him part of our family 22 years ago when we were just newlyweds and Michael just 14 and out on the streets and on a dangerous path.”
Setting aside the problem of the disparity in reported age between the two accounts, if Michael was 14 years old when Johnson got married in 1997–when Johnson himself was just 22–he’d be 40 now. Curiously, no Black person appears in any of Johnson’s official family photos or on his campaign website. When asked about the relationship between Michael and the Johnson family in 2017, a spokesperson gave a terse reply: “The congressman will not be commenting further than what was said today in committee out of respect for Michael, his privacy and their relationship.”
Seems like an odd that super-Christian Johnson would abandon his “son,” if there was actually an adoption; perhaps there was a foster care arrangement, but Johnson won’t clarify. And it seems SUPER convenient that J0hnson can rely Michael’s beliefs on things like reparations when he apparently isn’t in regular contact with the man. Michael seems to have been Chuck Cunningham’ed, at least until Johnson needs another Black friend to refer to.