Speaker of the House Mike Johnson is under fire after urging Democrats to “yield” to President Donald Trump’s plan to deploy federal troops to major U.S. cities — a move he says is needed to fight crime, but that critics are condemning as an occupation or even an invasion.
“We need to confirm that the American people that they do not need to fear for their lives when they drive to the grocery store, or they pick up their son or daughter from school,” the Republican Speaker said at a press conference on Tuesday (video below).
“This is common sense, and I cannot, for the life of me, understand how the Democrats think this is some sort of winning political message,” he added, referring to opposition to deploying federal troops into cities as Trump did to Washington, D.C.
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“Yield, man,” Johnson exclaimed. “Let the troops come into your city and show how crime can be reduced.”
He insisted seeing soldiers on U.S. streets is “a morale boost for the country,” “safe,” and “right for everybody involved.”
But legal experts and critics blasted Johnson.
“Is Speaker Johnson unfamiliar with why we mounted a revolution against Britain?” asked Joy Powers, a radio host and producer for Milwaukee, Wisconsin’s NPR affiliate WUWM.
“Shreveport, which Johnson represents, has a total crime rate 144% higher than national average and 62% higher than Louisiana average,” wrote journalist Julie Roginsky. “Its violent crime rate is 138% higher than the national rate and 44% above Louisiana’s. Why isn’t the military invading Johnson’s district?”
Attorney Aaron Reichlin-Melnick remarked: “Speaking entirely as a citizen of this country — this isn’t about politics! It’s about the fundamental nature of our country and our system of government. For 250 years we agreed that the military should NOT be deployed domestically to do the job of civilian law enforcement!”
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Journalist Andrew Ryvkin wrote: “I was ten when we came to this country. We settled in Boston. I learned that in the 1700s, my newfound hometown wasn’t one to ‘yield, man’ and let hostile troops come into the city. It won’t be one to do so today, either. And I hope other cities will follow suit.”
“Bananas,” commented attorney Mark Ramos. “The Republican ethos was, at its core, one of conservative, limited domestic gov’t, and now a Republican Speaker is cheerleading a ‘Republican’ president forcing U.S. military into states for domestic law-enforcement (and for show!). Reagan would be as aghast as we are.”
Former Obama senior advisor Dan Pfeiffer pointed to a CBS News/YouGov poll that shows a strong majority of Americans oppose having National Guard troops deployed to their “local area.”
See that social media post and the video below or at this link.