In 2017, members of Congress Mike Johnson and Charlie Crist introduced a resolution marking July 12th of each year National Day of Civility. The date was in reference to the Biblical passage from Mathew 7:12: "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you.” On July 12th, 2025, now Speaker of the House Mike Johnson stated the following: “Degrading dialogue and disrespect have become all too frequent in our political discourse. It has hindered productivity and resulted in division throughout the country. Though disagreement and opposition are inevitable, we can disagree in an agreeable manner. I am proud to join many of my colleagues on this year’s National Day of Civility to recommit to these ideals and work across party lines to reverse the detrimental divisiveness in today’s culture.”
Admirable words, but Johnson never commented on or specifically discouraged Trump’s volcanic eruption of slanderous characterizations of Democrats as “liberal lunatics” “radical left Marxists,” “Communists,” “America Haters” “radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country,” “fascists,” and “terrorists,” or his favorite slander “low IQ” of his “enemies.” Trump also scolded a woman journalist for asking a question about the Epstein files while on Air Force One: “Quiet, quiet, Piggy.” Worse, Trump accused six members of Congress of “sedition” for making a video counseling members of the military to disobey illegal orders from superiors, which is specifically mandated in the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Trump went further by outrageously asserting that these six members of Congress should be executed. Did Johnson denounce Trump for his inflammatory rhetoric? No he didn’t. Instead he issued this mealymouthed reply, “The words that the president chose are not the ones that I would use.”
Previously, Johnson characterized the "No Kings 2.0" demonstrations as a "Hate America rally," a gathering of "Marxists," "antifa advocates," and the "pro-Hamas wing" of the Democratic party. How civil of him! He claimed without evidence that the 7 million entirely peaceful protesters were advocating anti-American ideas, a rise of Marxism, and that their rhetoric was "un-American.” Considering that America was founded on the underlying idea of No Kings, Johnson’s incendiary description of the mass nationwide demonstrations is astoundingly ridiculous. He announced that he would not negotiate with “legislative terrorists” during the government shutdown, equating the Democrats use of the filibuster with violence. That, of course, is hypocritical considering that Republicans have employed the filibuster hundreds of times during both the Obama and Biden administrations to thwart Democratic legislation. MAGA Mike never denounced Republicans as legislative terrorists. More to the point, Speaker Mike Johnson does not practice what he preaches. He calls for civility while spewing hateful nonsense and defending or sidestepping the blatant incivility and hatred of Trump and Republicans. Hypocrisy thy name is Mike Johnson.
