House speaker says Trump's violent rhetoric really isn't so bad

President Donald Trump stands beside House Speaker Mike Johnson.

Speaker Mike Johnson stammered through yet another deflection Tuesday when he was asked about President Donald Trump’s history of abusive and dehumanizing rhetoric.

“The president has been called the most despicable names by people on the left for a long, long time. I don't have to give you the catalog—it would be this thick,” Johnson said, gesturing with his hands. “Look, there's a lot of heated rhetoric all around, and what I'm trying to advance here is this idea that we can have vigorous policy debates.”

Johnson then pivoted to Charlie Kirk and his “legacy” of debate.

“He loved the debate. But he didn't hate the people on the other side,” he added. “At the end of the day, we're trying to bring people to our mode of thinking, and it's more effective that way when you handle it that way. And I think Charlie was a great example of that.”

Johnson’s inability to grapple with Trump’s fascistic rhetoric is only overshadowed by his whitewashing of Kirk, whose so-called debate and discourse includes smearing Black women and asserting that “Jews have been some of the largest funders of cultural Marxist ideas.”

Rather than proposing something productive—like gun regulations that perhaps could have prevented Kirk’s killing in the first place—the Trump administration and the Republican Party have weaponized free speech … at least for anyone perceived to be on the “left.”