At a pro-Israel event in Milwaukee on Thursday, House Speaker Mike Johnson described his plans to target Democratic lawmakers who protest Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s upcoming speech to Congress.
“There’s a number of Democrats in the House who have said they are going to boycott the event, and then some others are gonna protest,” said Johnson. “We’re gonna have extra sergeants at arms on the floor, and if anybody gets out of hand the Speaker of the House will bang the gavel. We’re gonna arrest people if we have to do it. We’re gonna get the message out.”
According to PBS, Johnson was the one to initially lead the charge to invite Netanyahu, after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer criticized the Israeli leader as “an obstacle to peace” due to his handling of the war on Gaza.
A number of Democrats are considering objecting to the upcoming speech. Several intend to boycott it, including Representatives Jim Clyburn, Pramila Jayapal, Greg Casar, and Loyd Doggett. Justifying his stance, Doggett pointed to Netanyahu’s encouragement of the “indiscriminate bombing” of Gaza and the resultant “loss of lives that should never have happened.” He said of Netanyahu, “He has not prioritized the hostages; he ought to be doing that instead of coming here.”
Others have considered different forms of protest. According to Axios, an unnamed House Democrat has said some of his colleagues plan on “going and disrupting” the speech. Wisconsin Representative Mark Pocan suggested “dressing in a certain way” or “sitting together”—but specified that he will not be “going MTG.”
On X (formerly Twitter), progressive political analyst Omar Baddar said that Johnson’s promise to meet protest with a heavy hand revealed a double standard, as Republicans have heckled State of the Union addresses by Obama and Biden in the past without consequence. The Intercept’s Prem Thakker contrasted Johnson’s remarks with those of Trump in his RNC speech Thursday: “We should not criminalize dissent or demonize political disagreement.”
