Nancy Pelosi thought January 6 was behind her.
She watched Trump pardon 1,500 patriots on his first day back in office.
Buta January 6 patriot made one move that left Nancy Pelosi red with rage.
The man who stole Nancy Pelosi's lectern is running for office
Adam Johnson became an instant conservative hero when a Getty Images photographer captured him grinning from ear to ear while hauling Nancy Pelosi's lectern through the Capitol Rotunda on January 6, 2021.
The 41-year-old father of five from Parrish, Florida, didn't run from the cameras that day — he waved at them.
The viral photo earned him the nickname "Lectern Guy" and 120,000 followers on X where he goes by @lecternleader.
https://twitter.com/lecternleader/status/1661808840810135567
Biden's Department of Justice threw him in prison for 75 days after he pleaded guilty to entering a restricted building.
Trump pardoned Johnson along with nearly 1,500 other patriots who the Democrat Party tried to destroy for exercising their First Amendment rights.
Now Johnson is back in the headlines — this time as a candidate for Manatee County Commission in Florida, filing his paperwork on the fifth anniversary of that iconic photo.
"It's definitely good for getting the buzz out there," Johnson told WWSB-TV about his strategic timing.
His campaign logo is an outline of that viral photograph with Pelosi's lectern.
The symbolism couldn't be clearer: the man Pelosi tried to silence through lawfare is now using her own lectern as his campaign symbol.
Johnson's platform is pure MAGA
Johnson isn't hiding what he stands for.
His campaign website declares he's running to "bring MAGA principles to county government and root out the corruption that's been costing you money and destroying our quality of life."
His slogan "Fix Manatee FAST" stands for tackling Fraud, Affordability, Sustainable growth, and Traffic.
"For too long, the forgotten conservative has watched county government waste money, cut corrupt deals, and ignore the problems that matter to working families," Johnson said on his website.
He's targeting the Republican incumbent Jason Bearden, who Johnson says "failed to deliver conservative results."
"Failed to stop corruption. Failed to fix traffic. Failed to protect taxpayers," the campaign site states.
Trump faces four other Republicans in the August primary for the District 6 at-large seat, but he's already got name recognition none of them can match.
His pardon wiped the criminal record clean, meaning nothing legally prevents him from serving in public office.
That's driving Democrats absolutely insane.
Democrats are terrified of the January 6 narrative shifting
Johnson's campaign represents something much bigger than one county commission seat in Florida.
He's living proof that the Democrat Party's attempt to criminalize political dissent has backfired spectacularly.
The same people who spent four years calling January 6 participants "insurrectionists" and "domestic terrorists" now have to watch them run for office, get pardoned by the President, and be celebrated as patriots.
A White House website launched this week portrays defendants as "unfairly maligned patriots" — a complete reversal of the narrative Pelosi and the Democrat Party tried to force down America's throat.
Johnson’s selling hand-crafted wooden lecterns on his website "Unlicensed Furniture Movers" and taking pre-orders for his memoir called "Taking a Stand."
He's turned his notoriety into a political brand.
And Democrats can't stand it because it exposes what January 6 really was: a protest that got out of hand, not the coup attempt Pelosi and her media allies pretended it was.
The Department of Justice prosecuted more than 1,500 people — the largest criminal prosecution in American history — before Trump ended it on his first day back in office.
Now those same people are running for office, writing books, and refusing to apologize for standing up for their beliefs.
Johnson's candidacy proves the Democrat Party's weaponization of the justice system didn't just fail — it created a new generation of conservative leaders who aren't afraid to fight back.
Sources:
- Caitlin McCormack, "Jan. 6 rioter who hauled Nancy Pelosi's lectern around US Capitol launches run for Florida office," New York Post, January 11, 2026.
- "Adam Johnson, seen carrying Nancy Pelosi's lectern on Jan. 6, runs for office in Florida," CBS Miami, January 11, 2026.
- "Jan. 6 'Lectern guy' to run for local office in Florida," The Hill, January 10, 2026.
- "'Lectern Guy' of Jan 6 infamy running for office on MAGA platform in Florida," The Independent, January 11, 2026.
- "Jan. 6 riot participant 'Lectern Guy' files to run for Manatee County Commission," Tampa Bay Times, January 9, 2026.
