Speaker Johnson Pushes Back On ‘No Kings’ Protests
House Speaker Mike Johnson tore into Saturday’s nationwide “No Kings” protests, brushing off the events as partisan spectacle and calling out the irony of labeling President Donald Trump a monarch — while enjoying the very freedoms he’s accused of suppressing.
Speaking on ABC’s This Week with host Jonathan Karl, Johnson responded sharply when asked why he had described the protests — attended by high-profile Democrats — as “Hate America rallies.”
“We congratulate them on an apparently violent-free speech exercise,” Johnson said. “I was a First Amendment lawyer for 20 years, and we defend that right. But the irony of the message is pretty clear. If President Trump were actually a king, the government would be open right now. If President Trump were truly authoritarian, they wouldn’t have had the freedom to gather and shout on the National Mall.”
Johnson contrasted the current shutdown under Trump’s leadership with the 2013 shutdown under former President Barack Obama, noting that Obama ordered the National Mall and parks closed during that crisis.
“In the last shutdown, 2013-era, President Obama closed the National Mall,” Johnson said. “He closed all the national parks. Didn’t allow people to engage in all this.”
By contrast, Johnson noted, protestors were allowed to flood the National Mall on Saturday despite the ongoing budget impasse. “President Trump hasn’t closed it,” he said.
The Louisiana Republican suggested the protests were less about policy and more about political theater orchestrated by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
“They needed a stunt, they needed a show,” Johnson said. “Chuck Schumer needs cover right now. He’s closed the government down because he needs political cover, and this was part of it.”
“If President Trump was a king, the government would be open right now. If President Trump was a king, they would not have been able to engage in that free speech exercise,” Speaker Johnson tells @JonKarl following the nationwide “No Kings” protests. https://t.co/wiTLxsYRmW pic.twitter.com/AIDORW7u64
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) October 19, 2025
Democrats, including Schumer and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, rallied under the banner of “No Kings” in an attempt to cast Trump as a threat to democracy. But Johnson argued that the very fact the protests occurred peacefully and in public contradicted their core message.
The Speaker’s remarks come as tensions rise over the prolonged government shutdown, with Democrats blaming Trump for refusing to sign a bipartisan funding bill unless it included additional border security provisions and changes to asylum policy.
But Johnson and House Republicans insist the stalemate stems from Democratic obstruction and political opportunism. As the shutdown drags on, both parties appear to be hardening their positions — and protests like Saturday’s have only deepened the divide.