House Speaker Mike Johnson refused to condemn recent comments by Eric Trump trying to paint the Democratic Party as responsible for assassination attempts on his father. Instead, Johnson essentially repeated the claims by attacking Democrats' “rhetoric.”
“I don't think they're saying that the Democratic Party tried an assassination attempt. I think what they're alluding to is what they've all been saying. They have got to turn the rhetoric down,” the Republican speaker told host George Stephanopoulos on ABC's This Week. “For years now, the leading Democrats in this country, the highest elected officials and the current nominee for president have gone out and said that Donald Trump is a threat to democracy, that the republic will end if he's reelected.”
Here's exactly what Eric Trump said: “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.”
Johnson tried to weasel out of condemning Eric Trump's remarks by claiming he hadn't seen the full speech and then praising the “massive crowd” at the event: “I just saw the clip. I was at an event in Texas last night, so I didn't watch all the remarks from Pennsylvania. I will tell you, I talked to President Trump right after it, and he was pleased. They had a massive crowd there and a lot of enthusiasm and energy. But I didn't hear all the comments. I don't know the context. The clip that I just heard that you just played there, George, I don't think they're saying that the Democratic Party tried an assassination attempt.”
Stephanopoulos pushed back. “But Mr. Speaker, you just said Democrats are. You said their – you said their rhetoric is inciting. We all just saw what both former President Trump and his son Eric said. Eric actually did specifically reference Democrats. He said, 'They tried to kill him. They tried to kill him and it's because of the Democratic Party, they can't do anything right.' Do you support those comments or not?”
Again, Johnson refused to say whether he supports the comments: “I don't know what Eric was saying because I only heard just a snippet there. I don't know the context. I do know that Eric is very level-headed and a very intelligent person.”
“You just saw it, sir,” Stephanopoulos retorted.
“I saw your clip of it, George,” Johnson said. “I didn't see the full speech. We need to all look at these things in full context. What they're referring to, though, is the absolute open attacks that have been engaged by Democrats against President Trump since the day he came down that golden escalator in 2016.”
“We need everybody on all sides to turn the rhetoric down and let's have a debate about the records of these candidates, not the rhetoric,” Johnson added.
“So, you're actually repeating the charge. And I don't know what more context you need,” Stephanopoulos said before again repeating Eric Trump's exact remarks. “What more context do you need? Do you support that statement or not?”
“George, I'm not going to parse the language what people say at rallies,” Johnson said. “I could give you pages and pages of crazy comments from the leading Democrats in this country.”
The Republican speaker then stonewalled some more, prompting Stephanopoulos to say, “So, it's very clear you're not going to condemn the base's suggestion the Democrats are behind the assassination attempt on Donald Trump.”
The host moved on to another issue, the 2020 election, and asked Johnson, “Can you say unequivocally that Joe Biden won the 2020 election and Donald Trump lost?” Stephanopoulos pointed out that Trump's running mate JD Vance refused to answer this question at the recent vice presidential debate.
Yet again, Johnson ducked the question, claiming it's part of a “gotcha game” from the “mainstream media with leading Republicans.”
“We're not going to talk about what happened in 2020. We're going to talk about 2024 and how we're going to solve the problems for the American people,” the speaker said, adding that we need to focus on the upcoming election in November.
But by dodging the question about 2020, Johnson provides absolutely no reassurance that the lies about non-existent widespread voter fraud will not be repeated by Trump and members of the party he leads. And by refusing to condemn Eric Trump's remarks and instead blaming Democrats' “rhetoric” when they have not called for violence against the former president, Johnson is engaging in the same dangerous language he claims to abhor.
