Mike Johnson got a bit awkward when asked about the crime rate in his home state of Louisiana.
While appearing on Fox News Friday, host Dana Perino brought up Gavin Newsom’s latest comments that Trump should deploy troops to states like Johnson’s Louisiana because their crime rates are worse than those in California. Johnson tried to explain the work they’ve done in his hometown but ended up walking it back a bit.
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“Gavin Newsom will do anything for attention,” Johnson said. “He can name-drop me all that he wants. He needs to go and govern his state and not be engaging in all of this. Look, we have crime in cities all across America, and we’re against that everywhere, and we need to bring policies to bear. My hometown of Shreveport has done a great job of reducing crime – gradually.”
He continued: “But we’ve got to address it everywhere that it rears its ugly head. And I think every major city in the country—the residents of those cities—are open to that and anxious to have it, and we’re the party that’s going to bring that forward. I look forward to that in the days ahead.”
Earlier on Friday, Newsom went after Trump for deploying the National Guard in Los Angeles, and more recently, Washington D.C. – with mentions of wanting to bring them to New York City, Chicago and more predominantly blue states. Newsom said if the president wanted to suppress more crime, he should send the guard to Johnson’s Louisiana because crime is significantly worse there.
“If he is to invest in crime suppression, I hope the President of the United States would look at the facts,” Newsom said. “Just consider Speaker Johnson’s state and district. Just look at murder rate—that’s nearly four times higher than Californians—in Louisiana.”
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