House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) took a swing at Democratic lawmakers and mentioned they “incited violence” with bombastic rhetoric about President Donald Trump amid the aftermath of the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner capturing on Saturday evening.
Appearing Monday on Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom” to debate the incident that occurred on the Washington Hilton resort, the Louisiana lawmaker was requested about his ideas on a Sunday X put up from Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), by which he referred to as on lawmakers to cease specializing in TDS [Trump Derangement Syndrome] and construct Trump’s White House ballroom “for events exactly like these.”
Fox News Host Bill Hemmer then requested Johnson if he’s been “hearing enough from your Democratic colleagues on the tone that Senator Fetterman struck there?”
The House Speaker flat-out mentioned no earlier than calling Fetterman “a rare voice in that camp,” including, “We need more of that.”
Johnson blamed Democratic lawmakers for having “done the opposite” of Fetterman.
“I mean, you have some of the most prominent figures in the House and [in] the Senate on the Democrat side effectively calling for war. They use those kinds of metaphors,” he continued. “And it incites violence, because there are crazy people in society, and they get radicalized online. And so, we’ve got to recognize that. It’s time to turn down the rhetoric — we’ve been saying this over and over — and not use that kind of language.”
Noting that he hopes the incident will function a “sobering reminder for everybody about that very important cause,” Johnson praised Fetterman’s take.
“I’m grateful to Fetterman. He’s right, the ballroom will be a solution for this, because it’ll be on the most secure compound in the world. It won’t have hotel rooms above it,” he added. “And it’ll have seven-inch-thick glass, for example, on the windows. So, it’ll be a very safe environment to do events like this. We need a place, we have needed a place like that, and the president keeps pointing it out.”
The White House Correspondents’ Association dinner isn’t normally held on the White House, because it’s hosted by the White House Correspondents’ Association and never White House officers.
Trump, who was whisked away from the WHCD Saturday evening after a gunman charged by a safety checkpoint on the dinner and opened hearth, used the incident to resume his push for his controversial deliberate $400 million White House ballroom.
“This event would never have happened with the Militarily Top Secret Ballroom currently under construction at the White House,” the president wrote in a Sunday Truth Social put up. “It cannot be built fast enough!”
The National Trust for Historic Preservation filed a lawsuit to halt building of the ballroom in December 2025, alleging that Trump passed over congressional approval to demolish the East Wing for the undertaking.
Trump referred to as the lawsuit “ridiculous” and demanded that it’s dropped “immediately” in his Truth Social put up.
“Nothing should be allowed to interfere with its construction, which is on budget and substantially ahead of schedule!!!” he added.
Watch Johnson’s look on “America’s Newsroom” beneath. Skip to the 5:03 mark to listen to his remarks.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/mike-johnson-democrats-incited-violence-whcd_n_69ef9f9de4b08330e41e759d