Speaker Johnson Fumbles When Confronted About State’s High Crime Rate: It’s Coming Down ‘Gradually’

MELUGIN: “Not to give you a Gavin Newsom doubleheader, but he name-dropped you personally yesterday, essentially trying to say that crime is worse in Louisiana than it is in California. Take a listen, we’ll get your thoughts.”

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Newsom: “If he is to invest in crime suppression, I hope the president of the United States would look at the facts. Just consider Speaker Johnson’s state and district. Just look at murder rate. That’s nearly four times higher than California’s, in Louisiana.”

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MELUGIN: “Have at it.”

Johnson: “Again, Gavin Newsom will do anything for attention. 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. 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 policy, we’re the party that’s going to bring that forward. I look forward to that.”