House Speaker Mike Johnson addressed the “shameful” behavior several Democratic lawmakers showcased at President Donald Trump’s address to Congress, during which these lawmakers “missed their opportunity” to show some unity.
Johnson was asked about his performance in the House speaker chair during former President Joe Biden’s 2024 State of the Union, specifically how he stood when the president issued a call for the Hamas terrorist group to release its hostages. The speaker was then asked why some Democrats did not perform similarly when Trump took moments in his speech to honor people such as 13-year-old pediatric cancer survivor D.J. Daniel, which Johnson said was “a great question.”
“It was shameful,” Johnson said on Fox News’s Outnumbered. “I mean, they didn’t stand for the families of Laken Riley and victims of crime and all of these things, the hostage who was released after his elderly mother pleaded for all of the tragedy in Israel. They missed their opportunity.”
Johnson also lamented how these speeches used to provide a way for people to come together and find moments of agreement. He argued that Trump offered “many” instances when Democrats could have joined their Republican colleagues in celebrating the president’s bipartisan accomplishments, but chose to sit “through it all.”
“I think it sent a profound message to the people,” Johnson said. “It was shameful, and I don’t know how they explain their way out of that.”
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The House speaker also knocked a handful of Democratic lawmakers, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Jasmine Crockett (D-TX), for making a “cringeworthy” video on TikTok. However, he said he was open to allowing Democrats to continue doing “performance art,” as it provides Republicans a chance to talk to voters.
@SpeakerJohnson: “We don’t do dance videos… That is so cringeworthy. To Democrats now, politics is performance arts, but if that’s the performance PLEASE continue to do that because as the leading campaigner for @HouseGOP, I’d like to see more of that.”
pic.twitter.com/LDG4cFsgfB
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) March 7, 2025
During his appearance, Johnson addressed the hot-mic moment he experienced with Vice President JD Vance after Trump’s speech on Tuesday, during which the speaker deemed Biden’s 2024 State of the Union merely “a stupid campaign speech” that was hard to sit through. Johnson acknowledged he was being “candid” with his comments and that he was unaware the microphone was on.
