House Speaker Mike Johnson got into a testy exchange with CNN’s Jake Tapper over recent rhetoric from former President Donald Trump about the “enemy from within” as well as X-rated insinuations about golfer Arnold Palmer.
Reacting to Trump’s tale about Palmer’s manhood while speaking at a rally in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, Johnson (R-La.) countered that what matters to voters is their economic situation.
“Everywhere I go, Jake, everybody has the same concerns,” Johnson, speaking from a campaign stop in Michigan ,told CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday. “They’re fed up and they’re fired up about the cost of living that’s unaffordable now and the rising crime rates everywhere.”
Tapper was not satisfied with that answer and tried to direct attention to Trump’s comment Saturday in which he claimed that when Palmer “took showers with the other pros they came out of there and they said ‘oh my God,’ unbelievable.”
“I’m sure that you think that a policy debate would be better than a personality debate. But if President Biden had gone on stage and spoke about the size of a pro golfer’s penis, I think you would be on this show right now saying you were shocked and appalled,” he hit back.
Johnson shrugged off the Palmer anecdote, saying, “Jake, you seem to like that line a lot.” Tapper contended that he didn’t like the quote and implied that Trump was “unstable.”
After a flurry of cross-talk and interruptions, the GOP speaker chided that President Biden couldn’t handle rallies like Trump and underscored the jovial nature of the former president’s campaign style.
“He has fun at the rallies. He says things that are off the cuff. But I’m telling you, I have been in those events. I have been in those arenas and people have a great time at those arenas. So you can cherry-pick a few words or lines out of a two-hour event,” Johnson argued.
The CNN host then pivoted to Trump’s comments that aired last week in which he ominously warned about the “enemy from within.”
During an interview with Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” last week, Trump mused that “We have two enemies. We have the outside enemy, and then we have the enemy from within.”
Trump had been asked if he believed whether he believed Election Day would be peaceful.
“We have some sick people, radical left lunatics,” Trump said at the time while arguing that those on the political left might not be peaceful on Election Day. “And it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard or if really necessary by the military.”
He cited Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), who was an impeachment manager during his first impeachment. Trump also talked about “sick people, radical left lunatics” within the US.
Tapper dredged up Trump’s remarks and recalled how Johnson previously set up an Honor and Civility Caucus in the lower chamber.
“That’s not what he’s talking about there. What he’s talking about is marauding gangs of dangerous, violent people,” Johnson countered, prompting Tapper to point to Trump citing Schiff as an example.
Tapper then said, “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.”
The GOP House speaker countered that Trump was not “going to [use] the military on Adam Schiff.” He also stressed that the 45th president “kept law and order.”
“Except on January 6,” Tapper interjected.
“Russia did not invade Ukraine under his watch. Israel was not attacked viciously by Iran and its proxies, because they were afraid to do so under our — that commander in chief, under President Trump,” Johnson continued.
The interview wrapped up shortly afterward.
Johnson has been hitting the campaign trail for Republicans in tight congressional races across the country. He’s also frequented the Sunday news shows over recent weeks, and chafed with some of the anchors.