Johnson punts on GOP rhetoric, 2020 election outcome

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., declined to definitively answer questions on Republican rhetoric surrounding the upcoming presidential election and the results of the 2020 race as former President Donald Trump ramps up attacks on Democrats a month before Election Day.

Johnson, in an interview with "This Week" anchor George Stephanopoulos, refused to call out rhetoric from Trump and his family suggesting that the two assassination attempts against him were sparked by Democrats, claims made without evidence.

Eric Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, the site of the first assassination attempt on Trump where the former president was grazed by a bullet, said, "They impeached him twice. They went after his Supreme Court justices. They weaponized the entire legal system. .. And then, guys, they tried to kill him. They tried to kill him, And it’s because the Democratic Party, they can’t do anything right."

"I think what they're alluding to is what we’ve all been saying. They have got to turn the rhetoric down," Johnson said, adding that he "didn't hear all the comments."

He continued, "For years now the leading Democrats in this country, the – the highly – highest elected officials and the current nominee for president have gone out and said that Donald Trump is a threat to democracy. ... It's absolute nonsense. And they have incited dangerous people to do dangerous things."

Stephanopoulos pushed back, asking Johnson if he supports Eric Trump's comments. "What more context do you need? Do you support that statement or not?"

"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," Johnson said.

"I don't know what more context you need," Stephanopoulos responded, reading the quote from Eric Trump.

"George, I'm not going to parse the language what people say at rallies. I could give you pages and pages of crazy comments by the leading Democrats in this country. That's not what this is about. We have to talk about the greatest collection of challenges that this country is facing, probably since World War II, maybe the Civil War," Johnson said.

While Johnson and other Republicans have criticized Democrats for calling Trump a "threat to democracy," it's a phrase the former president has himself adopted. At a rally in Pennsylvania on Sept. 23, Trump said, "Democrats are a threat to democracy. That's the real threat."

Stephanopoulos also pressed Johnson on whether he would acknowledge the fact that Trump lost the 2020 election, a loss that both the former president and Ohio Sen. JD Vance, his running mate, have declined to definitively confirm.

"Can you say unequivocally that Joe Biden won the 2020 election and Donald Trump lost?" Stephanopoulos asked.

"See, this is the game that is always played by mainstream media with leading Republicans. It's a gotcha game. You want us to litigate things that happened four years ago when we're talking about the future," Johnson said. "We're not going to talk about what happened in 2020. We're going to talk about 2024."

"So like Sen. Vance, you cannot say unequivocally that Joe Biden won the 2020 election and Donald Trump lost?" Stephanopoulos asked, referring to Vance's non-answer on this topic at the vice presidential debate Tuesday.

"George, I'm the Speaker of the House. I work with the president of the United States all the time. Joe Biden has been the president for four years. There's not a question about this, OK? It's already been done and decided, and this is a 'gotcha' game that's played, and I'm not playing it. I want to talk about the future. Let's talk about policies," Johnson said.

Johnson also said he'd follow the Constitution on Jan. 6, 2025, when the Electoral College results are to be certified.

"George, I'm going to follow the Constitution. Article II of the Constitution is very clear. Congress has a very specific role, and we must fulfill it," Johnson said.