House Speaker Mike Johnson is getting dragged from all sides after his wild, unhinged rant Friday attacking the upcoming #NoKings protest — a nationwide day of action set for October 18.
Appearing on Fox News, Johnson came off panicked and furious, calling the protest a “hate-America rally” and bizarrely tying it to Antifa, Marxists, and even Hamas sympathizers.
“I’m angry. I’ve had it with these people,” he fumed. “They’re all going to gather on the [Washington] Mall… It is an outrageous gathering for outrageous purposes.”
Johnson also tried to connect the protest to the government shutdown, claiming Democrats were refusing to negotiate because they were too busy supporting radicals.
It didn’t take long for the backlash to light up.
“My former political party is scared to death of these #NoKings rallies,” former GOP congressman Joe Walsh wrote on X. “That’s great. So let’s have a gazillion Americans out rallying all around the country on October 18th! Let’s scare the shit out of Trump & his party.”
And that was just the start.
“SpeakerJohnson just called every American who plans to attend a #NoKings event a hater of the US,” posted Sally Dillon, an activist. “This spineless fake christian seems to like public humiliation, so he can continue by bowing down and kissing our protesting arses! We are patriots.”
The No Kings coalition, which is organizing the event, didn’t even bother trying to play nice. According to HuffPost reporter Jennifer Bendery, their first response was laughter.
Though the group didn’t release a long-winded rebuttal, it was clear they weren’t rattled. The protest is about opposing authoritarianism — not America.
Chris Ahuja, a Democratic Socialist running for Congress, didn’t mince words: “Mike Johnson says the ‘No Kings’ protest is a Hate America rally. Wrong. It’s a We Love America rally — because real Americans don’t bow to kings. Read a history book, Mike. Or admit you’re just an errand boy too scared to tell the truth.”
Even more heat came from inside the GOP’s former ranks.
“Looks like everyone in my former political party has signed on to the Donald Trump/Stephen Miller game plan, which means calling Democrats ‘terrorists,’” Walsh added. “Terrorists? Despicable! Shameful!”
Johnson wasn’t the only Republican throwing gasoline on the fire.
Rep. Tom Emmer tried to claim Democrats were delaying government funding just to score points with “the terrorist wing of their party,” while Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) appeared on Newsmax pushing full-on conspiracy mode, calling the protest a “Soros paid-for protest” and suggesting it might require National Guard intervention.
“We’ll have to get the National Guard out,” Marshall said. “Hopefully it will be peaceful. I doubt it.”
That veiled threat didn’t sit well with people either.
“Peaceful protests don’t require military responses #NoKings and the Soros comment is just veiled anti-semitism,” wrote producer Gary Michael Walters. “Very sad what has happened to the Republican Party.”
So What Is ‘No Kings’?
The #NoKings Day of Action is the sequel to massive nationwide protests held in June that drew over 5 million people in more than 2,100 cities and towns. Organizers say the rallies are peaceful demonstrations against authoritarianism — particularly the rise of Trumpism and GOP power grabs.
One of the lead organizers, Ezra Levin, cofounder of Indivisible, says this month’s protest will be even bigger.
“The largest peaceful protest in modern American history,” he promised.
He also responded directly to the smear campaign from Johnson and others:
“Trump and Miller can lie, smear, and threaten all they want,” Levin said. “They will lose.”
The growing consensus online is that GOP leaders — Johnson especially — are in full meltdown mode not because the protests are violent or radical, but because they’re powerful.
Millions of people, organized and peaceful, showing up in every state with one clear message: No kings. No dictators. No more silence.
And if Johnson’s frantic performance is any indication, they’re already rattled.
“He’s not angry,” one protester posted on X. “He’s scared. And he should be.”
Watch Mike Johnson’s rant below:
And there’s more:
Mike Johnson: "This hate America rally that they have coming up for October 18? The antifa crowd, the pro-Hamas crowd, and the Marxists, they're all gonna gather on the Mall. It is an outrageous gathering for outrageous purposes … all this has gotta come to an end." pic.twitter.com/9du1GED0z2
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 10, 2025
