D Magazine reported on Wednesday that Mayor Eric Johnson, newfound Republican and brown leather jacket-wearin’ family man, is divorcing his wife of 16 years. On Tuesday, his soon-to-be-ex-spouse Nakita Johnson told the court that she’d “caught him in our house” cheating with a city staffer in February 2021.
Johnson denies that he had sexual relations with that woman. But he did admit that she happened to share his Ritz Carlton hotel room while vacationing last summer in Montreal, a few months after he’d filed for divorce, according to D. (She did not work for the city at that point.)
And the pair apparently kept it all above board during their international jaunt. Johnson swore that he and his alleged lover did not, in fact, slumber side-by-side in the same bed — get your mind out of the gutter!
Still, Johnson’s insistence that he’d remained faithful is difficult for many constituents to believe. That’s especially the case after he was asked about whether he’d proclaimed love to his rumored paramour. His response: “It’s possible, yeah.”
The internet, of course, responded to the scandal with a few choice words.
Many critics brought up the fact that Johnson, a former Democrat, officially joined the GOP in September, months after he’d secured reelection. Some drew comparisons to another controversial Texas Republican, Attorney General Ken Paxton, whose own alleged affair was at the center of last year’s impeachment proceedings.
“Drama: After Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson took $ as a Dem & won, Flipped to GOP 3 months after the election, Brought in his church GOP mentor @JohnCornyn for media damage control, All while he was cheating on his wife & children with a city employee,” one X user wrote on Wednesday. “This is Ken Paxton level.”
Political scientist Joel Montfort echoed that sentiment: “A man after Ken Paxton's cheatin heart.”
A man after Ken Paxton's cheatin heart. https://t.co/jCyNvdiPS7
— Joel Montfort (@jmontforttx) February 15, 2024
Some folks argued that Johnson’s supposed infidelity tracks, given his party shift.
“Turncoat Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson is getting divorced because he was having an affair with a city worker,” one X user wrote. “In light of this revelation it makes sense he switched to the Republican Party. Can you say fraternization?”
Someone else put it this way when commenting on a Dallas Morning News X post about the ordeal: “Guess he really was a Republican.”
Nakita Johnson claimed Tuesday that her husband didn’t tell her about the divorce until after he knew that he’d be running unopposed, according to D Magazine. The way she tells it, they’d just wrapped a family dinner last March and she was cleaning dishes. Johnson plopped the paperwork on a chair and informed her “it was done.”Turncoat Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson is getting divorced because he was having an affair with a city worker. In light of this revelation it makes sense he switched to the Republican Party. Can you say fraternization? https://t.co/l1t17o7Hja
— Hey Jo 🤍 (@joe_jo4) February 15, 2024
One X user thought this approach was unkind: “[W]aiting until you know you’ll run for re-election unopposed before telling your wife you’re divorcing her is such a dick move…she was just a potential campaign prop to him by that point.”
Shortly before D Magazine published Editor Tim Rogers’ post about the divorce, the Republican Mayors Association, which Johnson helms, broadcast that the mayor had earned the GOP Trailblazer Award. Johnson received it on Tuesday, the same day as his court date.
One X user replied to that announcement: “Was he given this prestigious honor before or after divorce court* (for cheating on his wife with a staffer).”Was he given this prestigious honor before or after divorce court* (for cheating on his wife with a staffer)
— Eric (@ebwalker_) February 15, 2024
Good question.
