WASHINGTON ― House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Wednesday defended President Donald Trump’s blanket pardon for hundreds of people who attacked police on Jan. 6, 2021, during the riot at the U.S. Capitol.
“Everybody can describe this however they want. The president has the pardon and commutation authority. It’s his decision,” Johnson said at a press conference.
CNN’s Manu Raju had asked Johnson how Republicans can say they “back the blue” when their leader just erased criminal records for more than 1,600 rioters, including more than 600 charged with assaulting or interfering with police.
Johnson went on to whitewash the violent events of the day by suggesting the mob riot had actually been a peaceful protest.
“I think what was made clear all along is that peaceful protests and people who engage in that should never be punished,” Johnson said.
It was a remarkable change of tone for Johnson, who on Sunday said he did not think people who committed violent crimes should receive pardons and that he did not expect the president to include violent rioters in his Jan. 6 pardons, since hundreds of them were only charged with nonviolent offenses such as entering a restricted area.
Four years ago, on the day of the actual insurrection, Johnson said rioters should be prosecuted.
“Any individual who committed violence today should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Johnson wrote on social media on Jan. 6, 2021.
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The speaker on Wednesday went on to complain that the Justice Department had been “weaponized,” a phrase Republicans have used to describe the cases against rioters and Trump alike. Trump also faced charges for his actions on Jan. 6, but the case was dropped after he won reelection in November.
In what seemed like a tacit acknowledgment that the president pardoned some bad actors, Johnson said they’d suffered enough, having paid a “heavy penalty” in prison, and would do better in the future.
“We believe in redemption. We believe in second chances,” he said. “But the president’s made a decision, we move forward. There are better days ahead of us. That’s what we’re excited about. We’re not looking backwards. We’re looking forward.”