House speaker says Gavin Newsom should be 'tarred and feathered’

House Speaker Mike Johnson talks to reporters at the U.S. Capitol on April 10.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Tuesday that California Gov. Gavin Newsom should be “tarred and feathered” for opposing President Donald Trump’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions in Los Angeles, which have kicked off widespread protests.

Johnson was asked about Trump’s comment that “border czar” Tom Homan should arrest Newsom.

“That's not my lane,” Johnson, whose campaign website touts his years of constitutional law experience, told reporters during a press conference. “I'm not going to give you a legal analysis on whether Gavin Newsom should be arrested, but he ought to be tarred and feathered.”

On Sunday, Homan threatened to arrest Newsom for supposedly protecting undocumented migrants, but when Newsom egged him on, Homan backpedaled. However, Trump has endorsed the proposed arrest. 

Protests against immigration raids in Los Angeles intensified over the weekend. Trump has labeled protesters "insurrectionists" and “professional agitators.” And to squash dissent to his brutal actions, he has deployed 2,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines to the area, doing so without Newsom’s approval and despite protests from state officials. 

Johnson’s violent rhetoric against Trump’s perceived enemies is just the latest example of the GOP’s support for an authoritarian shift in government.