House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) made a horrific apparent gaffe when discussing a swastika spotted in a Republican congressman's office.
U.S. Capitol Police were called to investigate a display of an American flag altered to show the Nazi symbol pinned to a wall in a cubicle used by Angelo Elia, a staffer for Rep. Dave Taylor (R-OH), and the GOP speaker attempted to distance the party from fascist ideology.
"With regard to the swastika thing, this happened last night, a Republican congressman, allegedly, one of his staffers had something in the background, something in a Zoom, that's what I heard this morning," Johnson told reporters. "He says that that's not his and there was a proper investigation ongoing, and the congressman did exactly what he should have done, and that is report it. It's under investigation, and I can't comment on it any further until that's done."
The swastika display was noticed a day after Politico reported on a Young Republican group chat where organization leaders used racial slurs, joked about the Holocaust, celebrated slavery and rape, and praised Adolf Hitler.
"But I will say, obviously, that is not the principles of the Republican Party," Johnson said. "We stand for the founding principles of America – want me to articulate them for you right now? Individual freedom, limited government, the rule of law, peace through strength, fiscal responsibility, free markets, human dignity – the things that lead to human flourishing."
"We have stood against that, we have fought against the Nazis," Johnson added, and then apparently misspoke before insisting Nazi sympathies were a problem in both parties. "We defended that evil ideology. We roundly condemn it, and anybody in any party who espouses it, we're opposing that."
Epic Freudian slip
"We fought the Nazis, we defended that evil ideology" -Mike Johnson pic.twitter.com/uvVcUtNBJT
— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) October 16, 2025