No Kings Organizer Responds to Speaker Johnson Accusing Protest of Hating America: ‘Almost Feel Sorry for Him’

Ezra Levin, the co-executive director of the non-profit behind No Kings Day, joined MSNBC’s Chris Jansing Reports on Friday to respond to Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) continued accusations that the protests are “anti-American,” saying he “would almost feel sorry for [Johnson] if he wasn’t doing a ton of damage.”

Chris Jansing played the Indivisible co-executive a clip of Johnson’s Friday morning comments, in which he claimed that the “spectacle [of the ‘No Kings Day’ rallies] is the reason the Democrats have refused to re-open the government.”

Since the government shutdown started on October 1, President Donald Trump and other Republicans have continued to fault Democrats, arguing they’re diverting taxpayer dollars to healthcare for undocumented immigrants — a claim Democrats argue has no factual basis.

“I would almost feel sorry for him if he wasn’t doing a ton of damage to health care prices and a ton of damage to the American republic,” said Levin. “I think Johnson and the other Republicans — they’re in a really tough spot. 57% of MAGA Republicans support the Democratic demand to extend the Affordable Care Act subsidies.”

“So you can see Mike Johnson there trying to figure out, ‘How can I blame somebody else other than myself for this?’ And he’s somewhat confused that there’s a party out there — the Democratic party — that is listening to the American public and refusing to go along with this Republican hostage-taking we’re seeing right now,” he continued.

In the same segment, Levin promised that Saturday’s ‘No King Rallies’ are expecting numbers “nearly quadrupling the single largest protest from the first Trump term.”

Watch the clip above via MSNBC.