Mike Johnson would like you to believe that he doesn’t really follow the news, doesn’t keep up with events in Washington, D.C., and most definitely doesn’t listen to a word Donald Trump ever says.
The 53-year-old House speaker is fast gaining a reputation for feigning ignorance whenever he’s asked a difficult question.
This week, Johnson told reporters he hadn’t seen Trump’s 60 Minutes interview in which the president said he had pardoned crypto mogul Changpeng “CZ” Zhao but “know[s] nothing about it.”
Nor, Johnson claims, does he.
“I don’t know anything about that… I didn’t see the interview,” Johnson said.
Being a busy man, Johnson could probably be forgiven for missing the occasional TV show. Except, this was merely the latest in a long line of similar ignorant responses Johnson has made to reporters during his news conferences discussing the government shutdown. Critics allege he is keeping the House out of session to stall a discharge petition on the Epstein files.
His regular dumb act is now attracting attention, with video compilations showing the dozen-plus times in the past few months that Johnson has claimed he “doesn’t know about that” going viral on social media.
In October, Johnson told a press conference he didn’t know details of Trump’s push for the Justice Department to hand him $230 million in “compensation” for past prosecutions. “I don’t know the details about that,” he said—saying it was “on my list of things to do.” House Democrats subsequently opened a probe into the reported demand.
The speaker also claimed not to have watched Trump’s fiery late September address to generals and admirals at Quantico, Virginia, where Trump cast opponents as an “enemy from within” and talked up using U.S. cities as military training grounds.
When a suggestive letter to disgraced late pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein—reported to contain Trump’s signature—emerged in July, Johnson again ducked commentary, claiming he hadn’t seen the material.
And there are plenty of other examples that have drawn ridicule because many of the stories dominated Washington’s agenda at the time.
Trump’s pay-to-attend gala for top holders of his $TRUMP meme coin—framed by critics as pay-to-play—was widely covered in May, with top investors dining with the president at his Virginia golf club.
The same month, the White House’s acceptance of a luxury Boeing 747-8 from Qatar for use as Air Force One—and later the Trump library—triggered bipartisan ethics alarm.
Naturally, Johnson claimed he didn’t know about either, saying he had been busy with other matters.
The Daily Beast has contacted Johnson’s office for comment.
