Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Monday dismissed an AI-generated video President Trump posted, showing him wearing a crown in a fighter jet and dropping brown sludge on “No Kings” protesters, as “satire,” asserting that some of the protesters at Saturday’s rallies were “trying to incite violence.”
“You say that Democrats had a ‘hate America’ rally. But what does it say that the president of the United States, over the weekend, released a video of him pooping on the American people?” a reporter asked Johnson in a press conference Monday.
Johnson responded: “The president uses social media to make the point. You can argue he’s probably the most effective person who’s ever used social media for that he is. He is using satire to make a point.”
Republicans, led by the Speaker, had dubbed Saturday’s protests as “hate America” rallies. Johnson on Monday displayed photos of signs from the protests that he argued called for violence, including one that said “86 47.” Democrats have hailed the peaceful protests as expressions of patriotism.
“He is not calling for the murder of his political opponent, and that’s what these people are doing,” Johnson said, pointing out a picture of one sign from a No Kings protest showing a noose. “I mean, it’s, it’s unconscionable.”
Johnson has previously brushed off other offensive AI videos that the president posts.
After the president posted a video of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) wearing a sombrero earlier this month, Johnson said his Democratic counterpart should “just ignore it.”
“These are games. These are sideshows. People are getting caught up in — in battles over social media memes,” Johnson said earlier this month. “This is not a game. We’ve got to keep the government open for the people. I don’t know why this is so complicated.”
