House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) sparked outrage by calling on city officials to "yield, man" to military forces deployed by President Donald Trump for purported law enforcement purposes.
The president has ordered National Guard troops to Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., and threatened to send them to Chicago as part of what he calls a nationwide crackdown on violent crime, although critics have noted the cities he's targeted are in Democratic areas with Black leadership. But Johnson argued that local officials should just submit.
"I cannot for the life of me understand how the Democrats think this is some kind of winning political message," Johnson said Tuesday. "Yield, man! Let the troops come into your city and show how crime can be reduced."
Many social media users were disturbed by the speaker's choice of words to defend the Trump policy.
"It’s like actually really uncool, man, that you won’t surrender to authoritarianism. stop being so square, man. you’re really killing the vibes, man," mocked journalist Marisa Kabas. "'Yield man' is so rapey jfc."
"Obviously 'Yield, man!' is a much better political message," said USA Today columnist Rex Hupoke.
"'Yield, man,' the true cry of our Founding Fathers," added writer Rebecca Fishbein.
"This clown wouldn't be whining 'Yield, man!' if what Republicans were doing was popular," posited tech attorney T. Greg Doucette.
"'Yield man! Let the troops come into your city' is an extraordinary phrase," said New York Times culture editor Adam Sternbergh.
"'Yield man' Good lord," posted Bluesky user John Stucky. "This has such 'you should just lie back and enjoy it' vibes. Does he ever think before speaking?"
"JFC. Can't think of anything more antithetical to the concepts of liberty and the rule of law," added law professor Molly Ploofkins. "'Yield, man!' Let the military take over your city and your local law enforcement! (and by the way, we're the party of small government!)"
"We’re already under martial law; they just haven’t said it yet," argued journalist Justin Glawe.
"The latest reminder that my former political party is utterly un-American," sighed former GOP congressman Joe Walsh.