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‘Haven’t seen it’: Mike Johnson roasted for playing dumb on whatever reporters ask

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) doesn't appear to know, and he likely hasn't seen whatever video, speech, or statement reporters want to ask him about.
For the past several weeks, as reporters peppered Johnson with questions about President Donald Trump's cognitive decline, violence at the hands of ICE and other federal agents, and even things said by members of his own caucus. He answered simply that he doesn't know and hasn't seen it, heard it or examined it.
A Religious News Service reporter caught Johnson in a fib, while others couldn't help but notice that Johnson doesn't seem to know anything about anything.
Asked about a pastor being shot in the face by a pepper round by federal agents, Johnson responded, “I can't comment on any of those instances. I haven't seen or heard any of those videos…Religious freedom does not extend and give you the right to get in the face of an ICE officer and assault them.”
"Note: I asked this question, and you’ll hear me say 'yes you have' here — because Johnson was already *directly asked* about one of these instances in one of earlier shutdown press conferences," said Jack Jenkins, national reporter for Religion News Service.
It comes after Johnson was leveled by Jon Stewart on "The Daily Show" on Monday. He showed a clip of Johnson being asked about Trump's demand for $230 million from the DOJ for himself. Johnson said he hadn't spoken to Trump and didn't know any specifics.
"Uhhhh, I'm just f---ed up," Stewart said, mocking Johnson.
The day after the DOJ question, another reporter followed up, asking Johnson's opinion on it. The Speaker swore he wasn't trying to dodge the question: "I haven't had time to dig into the details."
Stewart mocked Johnson for claiming he had a lot to do, alleging it was only to cover up the investigation files surrounding Jeffrey Epstein. Republican members are out of Washington for another week, and Johnson is refusing to negotiate on the budget or healthcare. So, many people have questions about what exactly Johnson knows.
"Mike has never seen or heard of anything happening," posted CJ Fogler.
"When not appearing at a podium, does Mike Johnson go to his office, stand facing a corner and stick his fingers in his ears? The man never seems to have heard or seen anything ever," Broadway lawyer Michael Salerno questioned.
"More s--- Mike Johnson doesn’t know," said Mueller, She Wrote's Allison Gill on Bluesky.
"Can a reporter grow a pair and just say what we all are thinking already?" asked national security lawyer Bradley P. Moss. "He is deliberately refusing to look at information so he can remain ignorant. Pure and simple."
Even "Mother Jones" commented, "Mike Johnson, the perpetually unaware, strikes again."
"Has Mike Johnson ever considered holding his daily presser an hour later to give him time to read a paper?" influencer Schooley asked.
Mike Johnson has mastered the art of playing dumb about Trump's endless stream of scandals pic.twitter.com/keEEcWk5cx
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) October 28, 2025
‘That is the fear’: Analyst hears Dem governors ‘whisper’ about new Trump worry

Democratic governors are quietly sharing worries that President Donald Trump intends to disrupt next year's congressional elections, according to a political insider.
The president told U.S. troops this week that he was prepared to send "more than the National Guard" into American cities as he escalates a confrontation with Democratic-led local governments, and MSNBC's John Heilemann told "Morning Joe" that high-ranking officials are growing concerned about whether free and fair elections would take place in 2026.
"Trump has essentially taken the attitude and pursued policies in line with the attitude of, 'I'm the president, I can do whatever I want," Heilemann said. "You know, we've talked for years about the expanding purview of executive power in America, but Trump is so far at the extreme of that. This is clearly one of the largest areas where that's the case."
"You know, when Trump decided to nationalize the National Guard, to federalize the National Guard in California, in Los Angeles, the first of these moves, it was the first time that a president had overridden the wishes of a governor of a state since back in the civil rights era, when troops were federalized to try to integrate some of the schools in Alabama and other states in the South. So there is a not in our lifetimes precedent for this, and Trump has not just done it once, but is now doing it pretty much everywhere."
Those aggressive moves against Democratic-led states and cities have provoked some dark fears among the president's political opponents, Heilemann said.
"That is raising the specter you're talking about, which is, in the medium term, is this part of a strategy to try to steal, effectively, or at least put your thumb very, very firmly on the scale of the 2026 midterm elections, but also with the normalization project," Heilemann said. "We're not even a year in, and we've had multiple cities where we've seen this happen.
"In the course of the next three years, is the longer term objective to get to a place where troops on American streets have become so normalized that not only have the 2026 midterms been affected, but that the 2028 presidential election could be affected, with Trump basically saying, 'The whole country is in a state of emergency and I'm going to declare martial law and not have the 2028 presidential election.'"
"That is the fear of a lot of people in the progressive camp, that this is where it's going," he added, "and I don't mean just wild-eyed progressives, I mean a lot of Democratic governors are already starting to whisper that and say that to reporters, that that's where they think this is really headed over the course of the next three years."
Host Jonathan Lemire said he's been hearing the same concerns in his own reporting.
"That sentiment is out there, a terrifying one, and one that will be worth obviously keeping an eye on in the months and years ahead," Lemire said.
- YouTube youtu.be

