Speaker Mike Johnson clashed with ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos over rhetoric by some of former President Donald Trump’s allies blaming Democrats for the recent assassination attempts.
Johnson (R-La.), 52, reiterated his longstanding call to “turn the rhetoric down,” but refused to denounce comments from Eric Trump and others faulting Democrats for the attempts against his father’s life.
“I don’t know the context,” Johnson pushed back after Stephanopoulos, 63, played a clip of the Trump Organization executive’s remarks during the Butler, Pa. rally Saturday.
“I don’t think they’re saying that the Democratic Party tried an assassination attempt,” he countered. “I think what they’re alluding to is what we’ve all been saying. They have got to turn the rhetoric down.”
The Republican House Speaker argued Eric Trump was making a valid point about how for years, top Democrats have cast his father as a “threat to democracy” and suggested that “the republic will end if he’s re-elected.”
Eric Trump, 40, had decried the assassination attempts against his father while working to electrify a raucous crowd at the site where his father was nearly killed 12 weeks ago.
“They tried to smear us. They came after us. They impeached him twice, and then, guys, they tried to kill him. They tried to kill him, and it’s because of the Democratic Party. They can’t do anything right,” Eric Trump chided.
Stephanopoulos repeatedly grilled Johnson on Eric Trump’s rhetoric, but the speaker declined to condemn him, lauding the Trump scion as a “very level-headed and a very intelligent person.”
Johnson also contended that Eric Trump was dinging Democrats for the “lawfare” tactics deployed against his father.
“Look, we’re in an election cycle. This is a silly season, as they say. We’re … 30 days out from the most fateful election of our lifetime,” Johnson shot back after repeated questioning from Stephanopoulos.
The host then turned to the 45th president’s election denialism and asked the speaker if he could “say unequivocally that Joe Biden won the 2020 election and Donald Trump lost.”
“This is the game that is always played by mainstream media with leading Republicans,” Johnson fired back. “It’s a gotcha game. You want us to litigate things that happened four years ago when we’re talking about the future.”
“Joe Biden has been the president for almost four years. Everybody needs to get over this and move forward.”
Stephanopoulos again peppered him with follow-up questions, but Johnson declined to “play the game” and give a definitive answer.
The Harris-Walz campaign had seized upon GOP vice presidential hopeful JD Vance’s dodging of a similar question during the veep debate last Tuesday.
Following the interview, Johnson slammed ABC News for not asking about recovery efforts from Hurricane Helene and pressing domestic issues.
Johnson also appeared on “Fox News Sunday” where he addressed the fallout from the hurricane.
“At the federal level, this has been a massive failure, and you could just ask the people there on the ground. I have been there,” he said.
“When you talk to the people who are directly affected, they will tell you that this has been an abject failure. FEMA has lost sight of its core mission I think in so many cases, and the administration has not shown that they were prepared for this eventuality and this terrible disaster.”
