U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) leaves his office at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S., December 10, 2025. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is still refusing to speak out against President Donald Trump's insult of the late actor and director Rob Reiner, even though many of his Republican colleagues have already denounced his remark.
On Monday evening, CNN reporter Manu Raju approached Johnson in the U.S. Capitol and asked for his response to the president's comments about Reiner, just hours after Trump insisted in an Oval Office press conference that Reiner was "very bad for our country" and had "Trump derangement syndrome."
"Mr. Speaker, do you condemn Trump's post about Rob Reiner?" Raju asked.
"What are your thoughts about what President Trump said about Rob Reiner?" Another reporter asked.
"I don't do ongoing commentary about everything that's said by everybody in government every day," Johnson said while walking quickly.
"He's the president of the United States," Raju countered.
"We're trying to bring down healthcare costs for the American people," Johnson said. "Very important votes, very important issues."
"A lot of your members are criticizing him," Raju said to Johnson as he walked away from the scrum of reporters.
"I gave commentary this morning, and you all heard it," the speaker said as he left the scene.
The "commentary" Johnson referenced was likely his comment earlier on Monday in which he acknowledged "a lot of tragedies" in recent days, including the shooting at Brown University and the separate mass shooting in Sydney, Australia. The speaker previously told Raju that he was praying for Reiner's family in the wake of the alleged murder of the acclaimed director and his wife, though he refrained from mentioning Trump's comments.
"It's another reminder of just the senseless violence and evil that's so rampant in our society," Johnson said earlier on Monday. "So our prayers go out to the Reiner family."
Watch the video of the exchange below:
