House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) weighed in on threats President-elect Trump’s nominees and appointees faced this week, characterizing them “dangerous and unhinged” and called on President Biden and other Democratic Party leaders to condemn the incidents.
“This year, there was not just one but TWO assassination attempts on President Trump,” Johnson said in a Wednesday post on social platform X, referring to a shooting during a Pennsylvania rally over the summer when Trump’s ear was grazed with a bullet and another incident at his Florida golf club where agents thwarted an apparent attempt on his life before shots were fired.
“Now some of his Cabinet nominees and their families are facing bomb threats,” he continued. “This is dangerous and unhinged. It is not who we are in America,”
The Speaker added, “Joe Biden and all Democrat leaders have an obligation to speak up and condemn this now.”
Johnson’s comments come just as at least four officials reported bomb threats at their homes the day before Thanksgiving. Trump’s incoming press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed in a statement Wednesday that several of the president-elect’s nominees had faced “swatting” and other threats.
“In response, law enforcement and other authorities acted quickly to ensure the safety of those who were targeted,” Leavitt said.
A spokesperson for Rep. Elise Stefanik’s (R-N.Y.), who was tapped by Trump to serve as ambassador to the U.N., said the lawmaker’s home was targeted with a bomb threat.
The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office shared that a similar threat was made regarding former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) — who has withdrawn his name from consideration as attorney general — on Wednesday morning in Florida. The sheriff’s office said Gaetz does not live there, but a family member does. No device was found, and the area was cleared by authorities.
Former Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) said his family home was targeted by a pipe bomb threat that had a “pro-Palestinian themed message.” Zeldin, a former Jewish lawmaker who Trump picked to head the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), said he and his family were not at the residence when the threat occurred.
Brooke Rollins, the president-elect’s pick for secretary of Agriculture, was also a target. Rollins reported online that she received a threat against her family and home in Texas. She added that Forth Worth police cleared the area, and she was informed she could return to her residence.
Late last year, multiple lawmakers said their homes were a target of swatting incidents on Christmas Day.
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