As sure as the Sun rises in the East, we know that ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos will make every effort to play “Gotcha” with his Republican “This Week” guests, and this Sunday was no exception.
Stephanopoulos made a run at House Speaker Mike Johnson with the tried and true: “Will you condemn this terrible, horrible, no good, very bad thing Donald Trump (or Eric Trump) said? Or are you a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad person just like him?!” Johnson, however, refused to play Stephanopoulos’ game. I’m not certain, but I think I saw Stephanopoulos sprout a few extra gray hairs as his frustration mounted during this exchange.
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In case you’re unable (or unwilling) to watch the clip, here’s how it went down:
STEPHANOPOULOS: In the wake of the assassination attempts on Donald Trump, you urged all sides to tone down the rhetoric. So, is it right for the president and his family to suggest that Democrats are behind the effort to assassinate him?
JOHNSON: I just saw the clip. I was at an event in Texas last night, so I didn’t watch all the remarks from Pennsylvania. I will tell you I talked to President Trump right after it, and he was pleased. They had a massive crowd there and a lot of enthusiasm and energy. But I didn’t hear all the comments; I don’t know the context….The clip that I just heard, that you just played there, George, I don’t think they’re saying that…the Democratic Party tried an assassination attempt. I think what they’re alluding to is what we’ve all been saying: They have got to turn the rhetoric down. For years now, the leading Democrats in this country, the highest elected officials and the current nominee for president, have gone out and said that Donald Trump is a threat to democracy, that, you know, the republic will end if he’s reelected. It’s absolute nonsense. And they have incited dangerous people to do dangerous things — the rhetoric has. I think that is a fact that’s objective that everybody can agree to — we do need to turn the volume down. We have to have vigorous debates about policy, but not take it to that level. No one involved in this is a threat to the republic.
STEPHANOPOULOS: But, Mr. Speaker, you just said Democrats are….You said their rhetoric is inciting, but we all just saw what both President Trump — former President Trump — and his son, Eric, said. Eric actually did specifically reference Democrats. He said, “They tried to kill him…and it’s because the Democratic Party, they can’t do anything right.” Do you support those comments or not?
JOHNSON: I don’t know what Eric was saying because I only heard just a snippet there — I don’t know the context. I do —
STEPHANOPOULOS: You just saw it, Sir.
JOHNSON: — know that Eric is very level-headed and a very intelligent person. I saw your clip of it, George. I didn’t see the full speech. We need to all look at these things in full context. What they’re referring to, though, is the absolute open attacks that have been engaged — by Democrats — against President Trump since the day he came down that golden escalator in 2016, okay? The lawfare is unprecedented. They have attacked him in every single way. They try to malign his character every single day. And the people have had enough of it. That’s why you have these massive turnouts at the rallies. People have had enough of this. We need everybody on all sides to turn the rhetoric down, and let’s have a debate about the records of these candidates, not the rhetoric. Let’s talk about the policies, not the personalities. That’s what the American people demand and deserve. These are serious issues the country’s facing. We need to be talking about the ideas and the answers and the solutions to get out of them, and not all this other stuff.
It continues for another two-plus minutes, with Stephanopoulos attempting in vain to trip Johnson up and showing increasing frustration with Johnson’s refusal to take the bait. In a world full of chaos, I suppose it’s nice to know some things never change — and never will.
