Speaker Johnson Pushes Again On ‘No Kings’ Protests

[ad_1] Home Speaker Mike Johnson pushed again Sunday on the widespread “no kings” protests that passed off throughout the USA a day earlier, saying that President Donald Trump was removed from the authoritarian “king” Democrats have been claiming that he was.

Johnson joined host Jonathan Karl on ABC’s “This Week” to debate a variety of matters, from the continuing authorities shutdown to the protests — a few of which have been attended by high-profile elected Democrats — and he argued that if Trump have been behaving like a king, the federal government shutdown wouldn't nonetheless be in impact.

WATCH:

“If President Trump was a king, the federal government can be open proper now. If President Trump was a king, they'd not have been in a position to interact in that free speech train,” Speaker Johnson tells @JonKarl following the nationwide “No Kings” protests. pic.twitter.com/AIDORW7u64

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) October 19, 2025

“Let’s begin with the ‘no kings’ rallies,” Karl jumped proper in after introducing Johnson. “You known as these ‘Hate America rallies,’ what do you imply by that?”

“Nicely, that assortment of parents that I listed have been actually a part of it. We congratulate them on an apparently violent free speech train. I used to be a First Modification lawyer for 20 years, we defend that proper — however the irony of the message is fairly clear for everybody. If President Trump was a king, the federal government can be open proper now. If President Trump was a king, they'd not have been in a position to interact in that free speech train out on the mall, by the way in which, which was open as a result of President Trump hasn’t closed it,” Johnson replied, taking purpose at former President Barack Obama, who did shut outside monuments when the federal government shut down beneath his management.

“Within the final shutdown, 2013-era, President Obama closed the Nationwide Mall,” he stated. “He closed all of the nationwide parks, didn’t permit individuals to have interaction in all this.”

“So it’s — they wanted a stunt, they wanted a present. Chuck Schumer has — wants cowl proper now, he’s closed the federal government down as a result of he wants political cowl and this was a part of it,” Johnson concluded,

Schumer confronted backlash from inside his personal celebration over the last shutdown battle, largely as a result of he voted with Republicans and stated that it was extra essential to maintain the federal government open than to attain just a few political factors.