Johnson says it's no use passing new gun laws because there are still cars

Just a few days ago, Mike Johnson was one of the lesser-known members of Congress. Now he’s been catapulted to speaker and into the fierce competition for most loathable House Republican. He worked hard to make the case for himself on that one in an interview with Sean Hannity that aired Thursday night—and managed to distinguish himself on guns by bringing an exceptional level of smarminess and condescension to the same old discredited Republican talking points.

Speaking about the mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, Johnson insisted, “At the end of the day, the problem is the human heart. It’s not guns. It’s not the weapons. At the end of the day, we have to protect the right of the citizens to protect themselves, and that’s the Second Amendment, and that’s why our party stands so strongly for that.” He added that “this is not the time to be talking about legislation; we’re in that crisis right now,” although he most certainly thinks there is a crisis in Israel and it’s time to be talking about funding for Israel, and that there is a crisis on the border and it’s time to be talking about anti-immigrant legislation.