Speaker Johnson Dodges On Trump Wanting Newsom Arrested

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) was asked on Tuesday to weigh in on President Donald Trump saying he would arrest California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) the day before – despite not being able to name any actual legal offense Newsom has committed.

“The president said, possibly yes, that if he were Tom Homan, he would arrest Gavin Newsom. You believe that Newsom should face consequences in a legal way?” a reporter asked Johnson during a Capitol Hill presser.

“Um, look, that’s not my lane. I’m not going to give you legal analysis on whether Gavin Newsom should be arrested. But he ought to be tarred and feathered,” Johnson replied, adding:

I’ll say that. I mean, look. He’s standing in the way of the Administration and the carrying out of federal law, right? He is applauding the bad guys and standing in the way of the good guys. He is trying to – he is a participant, an accomplice in our federal law enforcement agents being not just disrespected but assaulted.

This is a serious problem. And the governor is now filing a lawsuit against the president. What a joke. Do your job, man. That’s what I tell Gavin Newsom. Do your job. Stop working on your rebranding and be a governor. Stand up for the rule of law. He’s not doing that. So, I don’t know what the ultimate measure will be there, but I know that in the interim time, the President of the United States is showing real leadership, and we’re not going to allow L.A. to burn. We’ve seen this movie before, right?

This thing gets out of hand real quickly, especially in a big city like that. And 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.

Trump was asked on Monday what crime he believes Newsom committed to justify an arrest. “What crime has he committed? I think his primary crime is running for governor because he’s done such a bad job,” replied Trump, adding:

What he’s done to that state is like what Biden did to this country. And that’s pretty bad. It’s the wrong philosophy. Thousands, hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants, many of them prisoners, they’re taking up your healthcare, they’re taking up your space in schools, they’re taking up your hospital. And in many cases, they’re criminals. And we have to do something about it. And we’re doing something about.

Johnson was first asked about Trump’s wild comments on Monday night by CNN’s Manu Raju. Johnson refused to answer at that time as well, saying, “Well, it was busy all day today, and I heard that for the first time sitting next to the President when they asked me that question at the White House. I don’t know what all of that involved, but he gave a comment there and I’ll stick by what he said.”

Watch the clip above via C-SPAN.