Speaker Mike Johnson gamely defended President Donald Trump’s weekend social media post showing him dropping apparent human excrement on liberal protesters in comments to reporters Monday, calling it “satire.”
Trump on Saturday evening posted an AI-generated video on Truth Social showing him wearing a crown at the stick of a warplane emblazoned with “King Trump.” It is shown bombarding liberal protesters with a poop-like substance in an apparent reference to the “No Kings” rallies that took place in numerous American cities earlier in the day.
“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,” Johnson said at a news conference Monday. “He is using satire to make a point. He is not calling for the murder of his political opponents.”
Johnson did not elaborate on what Trump’s point might have been. He did, however, express hope that the weekend rallies might prompt an end to the 20-day-old government shutdown, suggesting it could prompt the Senate minority leader to finally accept a House-passed stopgap spending bill.
“Now that Chuck Schumer has had his spectacle, he’s had his big protest against America, this is our plea: We’re asking … that he is finally now ready to go to work and end this shutdown and stop inflicting pain on the American people,” he said.