CBS’s Tony Dokoupil Presses Speaker Johnson On Immigration: ‘Something Seems To Have Gone Wrong and Terribly So’

CBS’s Tony Dokoupil pressed House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) on immigration enforcement and inflation as the Republican leader painted a rosy picture ahead of President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address.

Johnson sat down with CBS Evening News anchor Dokoupil for an interview on the state of the country before Trump addresses the nation on Tuesday evening.

Dokoupil noted at the top of the interview that CBS polling and other surveys show that Americans are more and more feeling prices “rising faster than their wages.” Johnson accused former President Joe Biden of creating an “economic” mess and claimed Trump had “reversed literally all of that,” while acknowledging that voters are still struggling.

“Well, Mr. Speaker, I mean, on groceries, for example, they’re still 20 percent higher than they were in 2022 under Biden and Harris. But 20 percent means that when someone spends $100 at the grocery store today, they are paying $120 for the same things they were getting a few years ago,” Dokoupil said.

“Inflation is gradually coming down. It’s not completely fixed yet, but we are on the right trajectory. Wages are going up,” Johnson countered, adding the country is “on the right trajectory.”

When Johnson pivoted to the southern border and immigration enforcement, Dokoupil pressed again, this time on why Trump’s polling numbers are also “underwater” on immigration enforcement. Anti-ICE protests have popped off recently across the country after two American citizens — Renee Good and Alex Pretti — were shot and killed by immigration agents in Minneapolis.

“The president campaigned on closing the border and mass deportation. They were waving signs with that at the RNC. Something seems to have gone wrong and terribly so. He’s now underwater on that issue, and I think we all know why,” Dokoupil said.

“There’s a perception out there that it was overzealous in some respect, but the president’s intention has always been to rid the country of dangerous criminal illegals. That’s what they’ve accomplished,” Johnson said.

“Is it merely a perception?” Dokoupil asked.

Johnson praised Trump border czar Tom Homan, saying he brought “calm” to Minneapolis following the shootings.

“I think Tom Homan has done a great job when he went into Minneapolis, for example, and he brought calm to the situation and restored common sense,” Johnson said. “Immigration reform has to be done in a smart, strategic way. We have to follow the law.”

Watch above via CBS Evening News.

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