Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson dismissed Saturday’s nationwide “No Kings” demonstrations as nothing more than a “stunt,” arguing that the very fact they occurred undermined the protesters’ message. Speaking Sunday on ABC News’s This Week, Johnson said the events showed that President Donald Trump was not the “king” critics claimed him to be.
“That collection of folks that I listed were part of it. We congratulate them on a violent-free, free speech exercise. The irony of the message is clear for everyone,” Johnson said.
“If President Trump was a king, the government would be open right now. If President Trump was a king, they would not have been able to engage in that free speech exercise on the Mall which was open because President Trump hasn’t closed it.”
Despite Johnson having already successfully and meticulously calling out the protesters’ hypocrisy, he hammered the point that Trump haters are mad at Trump for doing something former President Obama did; Trump did not.
“In the last shutdown, 2013, President Obama closed the National Mall, the national parks, didn’t allow people to engage in all this. They needed a stunt. They needed a show” Johnson stated.
The “No Kings” protests were held across the country Saturday, drawing participants opposed to Trump. At one rally, attorney and outspoken Trump critic George Conway appeared wearing a shirt identifying himself as a member of Antifa — a nod, perhaps, to Johnson’s earlier remarks on Fox & Friends on Oct. 10, when he suggested the demonstrations would attract “the pro-Hamas wing and the, you know, the Antifa people.”
During This Week, host Jonathan Karl pressed Johnson about his previous characterization of the rallies as a “hate America” event, setting up the moment when, as the segment was described, the speaker obliterated the premise of the ‘No Kings’ protests in 41 seconds.
The Daily Caller News Foundation notes how the federal government has been in a partial shutdown since 12:01 a.m. on Oct. 1, after the Senate failed to reach the 60 votes needed to overcome a Democratic filibuster and pass a continuing resolution. The House had already approved the short-term funding measure on Sept. 19.
