House speaker tries to pin ‘assassination culture’ on the left

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, shown earlier this month

Does House Speaker Mike Johnson ever read the news?

On Tuesday, he played dumb about news that a man pardoned by President Donald Trump for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot has been rearrested after allegedly threatening to kill House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

“I don't know any of the details of this at all,” Johnson said, falling back on his often-used excuse of being ignorant of national events. “I will say that anybody—anybody—who threatens political violence against elected officials or anyone else should have the full weight and measure of the Department of Justice on their head. I trust that’ll happen. I hope it will. We are intellectually consistent about that.”

But Johnson was not done shoveling the BS, adding, “I will tell you this: The violence on the left is far more prevalent than the violence on the right. Don't make me go through the list.”

Historically, political violence is much more of a right-wing problem than a left-wing one. The data on that is clear.

Johnson quickly pivoted to parroting baseless talking points, alleging this past weekend’s “No Kings” demonstrations were “paid for by [George] Soros and sponsored by communists,” and accused “the left” of creating an “assassination culture.” 

Again, the man charged with threatening to assassinate Jeffries was pardoned by Trump. And it’s only the latest example of pardoned Capitol rioters ending up in more trouble with the law.