Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson tried to insist that Donald Trump didn't really say what he said when the former president threatened to mobilize the military to "handle" some Americans he doesn't agree with.
Johnson claimed to Jake Tapper Sunday on CNN that Trump was only talking about "marauding gangs," but in fact he specifically named Democratic Reps. Nancy Pelosi (and her husband) and Adam Schiff, which Tapper pointed out.
Tapper initially told Johnson: "In multiple interviews this week, Donald Trump repeatedly referred to prominent Democrats and others on the left in the United States, American citizens as, quote, 'the enemy from within,' unquote. And he suggested as president he would want to use the National Guard or military against them."
Johnson laughs: "Jake, you know, that's not what he's talking about there. What he's talking about is marauding gangs of dangerous, violent people who are destroying public property."
Tapper: "Nope! He talked about Adam Schiiff, the Pelosis." He then played a second clip of Trump in a subsequent interview standing by his position and naming the elected Democratic lawmakers.
Johnson: "Wait a minute, hold on ... I did not hear President Trump in that clip say he's going to sic the military on Adam Schiff."
Tapper: "Adam Schiff. Nancy Pelosi, Nancy Pelosi's husband. Let me just say, if a Democratic presidential candidate said that you and your wife were evil and that the military should be used against you, I would say that's disgusting."
Check out Tapper and Johnson here:
Jake Tapper takes Mike Johnson to the woodshed after Johnson tries to claim that Trump never said he would use the military of US citizens, and concludes the interview with, "It's like you were answering questions from a completely different interviewer." Here is the full segment pic.twitter.com/f9lnf92kEu
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) October 20, 2024
Trump doubled down again on his ominous warning about the so-called "enemies within" in an interview on Fox New's "Media Buzz" on Sunday, and again specifically named Schiff — whom he called "crooked" — and Pelosi.
"These are bad people," he said of the Democrats. "We have a lot of bad people."
Trump said Pelosi was "supposed to protect the Capital" when Trump supporters stormed the building January 6, 2021, even though it was his job to do so. Last week Trump called the mob action at the building a "day of love."
