House Speaker Mike Johnson called Tuesday for California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom to be “tarred and feathered” over his response to the riots raging in downtown Los Angeles.
Declining to weigh in on whether Newsom should be arrested — as President Trump and White House border czar Tom Homan have floated — Johnson (R-La.) ripped into the Golden State governor’s light-touch approach to the chaos in Los Angeles.
“I’m not going to give you legal analysis on whether Gavin Newsom should be arrested, but he ought to be tarred and feathered,” Johnson told reporters during a Capitol Hill news conference.
The phrase “tarred and feathered” refers to a form of vigilante punishment frequently deployed in America’s colonial days, in which individuals would be stripped naked and doused with wood tar before getting feathers dumped on them.
In modern times, the phrase is often used to mean public rebuke. Newsom, however, appeared to take Johnson’s comment literally.
“Good to know we’re skipping the arrest and going straight for the 1700’s style forms of punishment,” Newsom hit back on X. “A fitting threat given the @GOP want to bring our country back to the 18th Century.”
Good to know we’re skipping the arrest and going straight for the 1700’s style forms of punishment.
A fitting threat given the @GOP want to bring our country back to the 18th Century. https://t.co/0Ck1Xk3IEL
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) June 10, 2025
The speaker noted that the discussion of whether to charge Newsom with a crime is “not my lane.”
“Look, he’s standing in the way of the administration and the carrying out of federal law,” Johnson added. “He is applauding the bad guys and standing in the way of the good guys.
“He’s a participant and an accomplice in our federal agents not just being disrespected, but assaulted.”
Riots have rocked Los Angeles since Friday night in response to a series of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids across America’s largest city.
Late Saturday, Trump federalized the California National Guard and ordered troops to contain the unrest, drawing outrage from Newsom.
Newsom and California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit Monday seeking to void Trump’s federalization of the National Guard. Newsom has also publicly rebuked Trump’s actions.
“What a joke,” Johnson remarked about the lawsuit. “Do your job, man, that’s what I tell Gavin Newsom. Do your job. Stop working on your rebranding, and be a governor.”
Homan had warned over the weekend that it is a felony to obstruct the feds from carrying out their immigration law enforcement efforts, before later clarifying the Trump administration has no intention of arresting Newsom.
“I would do it, if I were Tom,” Trump told reporters Monday, quipping that Newsom’s “primary crime is running for governor since he’s done such a bad job.”
Newsom had practically dared the Trump administration to cuff him up, saying Sunday night: “Just get it over with, arrest me.” The governor also accused Trump Monday of taking an “unmistakable step toward authoritarianism” with his comments.
