Speaker Johnson: Gavin Newsom ‘ought to be tarred and feathered’ as California protests explode

Washington D.C. – House Speaker Mike Johnson offered full-throated support Tuesday for President Donald Trump’s decision to deploy thousands of National Guardsmen and several hundred Marines to Los Angeles, as protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) enter their third week.

“The president is absolutely right,” Johnson said during a press conference, describing the deployment as a necessary step to “maintain order” in a city grappling with unrest. “President Trump has put his hand on the table and said, ‘Not on my watch,’ and we applaud that,” Johnson added.

The protests, sparked by a recent wave of high-profile ICE raids and detentions, have drawn thousands of demonstrators into the streets. Tensions have escalated between protestors and law enforcement, prompting the White House to announce the deployment of 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines to assist local authorities.

Johnson, who has increasingly aligned himself with the former president in recent months, echoed Trump’s sharp criticism of California Governor Gavin Newsom. Asked whether Newsom should be arrested, as Trump suggested on Monday, Johnson demurred but still used inflammatory language: “Look, that’s not my lane. I’m not going to give you legal analysis on whether Gavin Newsom should be arrested, but he ought to be tarred and feathered.”

Newsom fired back in a statement on X, saying, “Good to know we’re skipping the arrest and going straight for the 1700s-style forms of punishment. A fitting threat given the @GOP want to bring our country back to the 18th Century.”

The California governor has called the federal deployment “a blatant abuse of power” and filed suit against the administration in federal court. On Monday, he described Trump’s comments about his potential arrest as “an unmistakable step toward authoritarianism.”

Johnson accused Newsom of neglecting his duties as governor, saying, “Do your job, man… stop working on your rebranding and be a governor. Stand up for the rule of law.”

The Speaker used the moment to promote the House-passed “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which bundles increased military and border funding with extended tax cuts from Trump’s 2017 law. The bill, currently being negotiated in the Senate, would also make cuts to Medicaid and nutrition assistance programs. The Congressional Budget Office estimates it could add $3 trillion to the national deficit over the next decade.

Republican lawmakers in both chambers have rallied behind Trump’s response to the protests. Senator Kevin Cramer said he hoped the troop deployment would “deter” violence and bring “peace,” while Senator John Kennedy suggested Newsom had done “zero, zilch, nada” to address the unrest.