Mike Johnson’s Ugly New Lie About Campus Protests Hands Dems a Weapon

[Daily Kos Morning Roundup]( [Abbreviated Pundit Roundup]( is a long-running series published every morning that collects essential political discussion and analysis around the internet. - [Mike Johnson’s Ugly New Lie About Campus Protests Hands Dems a Weapon]( The speaker’s invocation of the name of George Soros bursts a tactical door open for Democrats—if they have the guts to walk through it. This week, Mike Johnson floated a wild-eyed theory about the pro-Palestinian protests that have been rocking college campuses. The House speaker called on the FBI to get involved, adding: “I think they need to look at the root causes and find out if some of this was funded by, I don’t know, George Soros or overseas entities.” Because such talk has become routine, Johnson’s claim didn’t garner much media attention. But Democrats can and should act to compel media attention to it. And they have a big opportunity to do so: Johnson is planning high-profile hearings about the protests in coming weeks, which will include grilling university officials about whether administrators are doing enough to combat antisemitism on campuses. - [Daily Kos has missed its fundraising goals two months in a row. Please start a monthly recurring donation to help us stay strong]( - [Clyburn hits out at Trump over Gestapo comment: ‘Incredible but not surprising’]( Democrat says country is going off track after Trump compares Biden administration to Germany’s fascist secret police According to CNN, Trump singled out [Rep. Elise] Stefanik, who he described as “an amazing talent”, as well as Marco Rubio. NBC reported that Trump brought all the guests on stage – except Noem – including House speaker Mike Johnson. But during an address that lasted over an hour, Trump likened the Biden administration to Hitler’s feared secret police. “These people are running a Gestapo administration,” Trump said, according to NBC News. “It’s the only thing they have. And it’s the only way they’re going to win in their opinion.” The Republican governor Doug Burgum of North Dakota, appearing Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union, essentially confirmed Trump’s statement, but tried to diminish its importance. “This was a short comment deep into the thing that wasn’t really central to what he was talking about,” said Burgum, who is among the contenders to be Trump’s running mate. - [Marjorie Taylor Greene Was Bleeding Cash. Then She Went After Mike Johnson.]( The Georgia Republican’s campaign had about $700,000 at the end of 2023. Since introducing a motion to vacate, she’s brought in six figures, according to a source familiar with the campaign. Greene promised to force a vote this week. But it is expected to fail. After weeks of holding the motion to vacate like an anvil over Johnson’s head, Democrat leadership swatted the suspense by announcing they would vote to save him — this time, at least. Greene’s highly publicized antagonism of Johnson is complicated. She hasn’t publicly stated who she wants to replace him, preferring to let her colleagues — most of whom wish she’d drop her crusade — decide the next House leader. Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump, who is close with Greene, stood alongside Johnson at his Mar-a-Lago resort and called for her to stand down. But one thing is simple: The threat is good for fundraising, and its use in campaign ads comes as Greene works to restock her funds during an election year. - [Kristi Noem Suggests Biden’s Dog Should Have Been Killed, Too]( The South Dakota governor, defending her tale of shooting and killing her family’s dog, suggested that President Biden’s German shepherd, Commander, had merited a similar fate. The South Dakota governor, who had been widely seen as a contender to be former President Donald J. Trump’s running mate, wrote in the book about a female wire-haired pointer named Cricket that she had hoped to use to hunt pheasant on her ranch. She said that the dog proved “untrainable,” “dangerous to anyone she came in contact with” and “less than worthless” as a hunting dog — so she shot her in a gravel pit. “I hated that dog,” Ms. Noem wrote. - [Abortion is Healthcare! Make sure everyone knows with this t-shirt]( - [Things look bleak for the Tories]( In truth, despite the variety of contests and circumstances, the message for the Tories is much the same across the various and varied contests that took place on Thursday. On average, in the BBC’s sample of wards where detailed voting figures were collected, Conservative support was down by just over 11 points when compared with the local elections in 2021. In the mayoral contests outside London the average fall was 10.5 points. And in in the Police and Crime Commissioner elections in England, Conservative support was also down on average by 10.5 points. Only in London was the fall in support less marked. The party’s vote was down by nearly five points in both the London Assembly votes, while in the mayoral contest the drop was just over two and a half points. Even so, this was still enough to ensure that the party’s share of the London constituency vote fell to a record low. Want to write your own stories? [Log in]( or [sign up]( to post articles and comments on Daily Kos, the nation's largest progressive community. Follow Daily Kos on [Facebook](, [Threads](, and [Instagram](. Thanks for all you do, The Daily Kos team We're not asking for much Over the past 12 months, the average donation to Daily Kos has been just $9.44. These donations may seem small, but they're a big deal to us. In fact, they are our largest source of income. We literally couldn't do the work we do without them. 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