House Speaker Mike Johnson is piling onto the Republican attacks aimed at California Gov. Gavin Newsom, telling reporters on June 10 that the Democrat should be “tarred and feathered” for challenging President Donald Trump over immigration enforcement.
“That’s not my lane. I’m not gonna give you legal analysis on whether Gavin Newsom should be arrested. But he ought to be tarred and feathered,” Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, said in the U.S. Capitol during his weekly news conference.
On June 9, Trump said “it would be a great thing” if his border czar Tom Homan arrested Newsom. The governor has challenged Trump’s decision to call the California National Guard to Los Angeles to quell protests over immigration enforcement. Trump has also ordered 700 Marines be sent to the nation’s second-largest city.
In his news conference, Johnson said Newsom is keeping the Trump administration from implementing federal law.
“He’s standing in the way of the administration and the carrying out of federal law. He is applauding the bad guys and standing in the way of the good guys. He is a participant, an accomplice in our federal law enforcement agents being not just disrespected, but assaulted,” Johnson said. “This is a serious problem.”
Newsom quickly responded on social media. “Good to know we’re skipping the arrest and going straight for the 1700’s style forms of punishment. A fitting threat given the (Republicans) want to bring our country back to the 18th Century.”
Johnson on Newsom lawsuit: ‘What a joke’
Johnson also criticized Newsom for filing a lawsuit against Trump for sending the California National Guard to Los Angeles over his objections.
“What a joke,” Johnson said. “Do your job, man.”
The House speaker also said protests can quickly get out of hand in large cities.
“If local and state officials are unwilling or unable to do their job, the president of the United States will do his and we support that fully,” Johnson said.
The last time a president called in the National Guard over the objections of the state governor was in 1965 when President Lyndon B. Johnson sent troops to escort civil rights marchers participating in the Selma-Montgomery March in Alabama.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Newsom should be ‘tarred and feathered,’ Mike Johnson says
