GOP's Ron Johnson feigns surprise over angry reaction to racist remarks he knew would stir up 'trouble'

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) pretended to be shocked by the reaction to his comments about the U.S. Capitol insurrection -- which he had prefaced with a recognition that his remarks might cause "trouble" for him.

The Wisconsin Republican told a radio host last week that he wasn't as afraid of the Donald Trump supporters who violently stormed the Capitol as he would have been if they had been Black Lives Matter protesters, and he insisted Monday in a radio interview that he was surprised by the criticism, reported the Associated Press.

"It has nothing to do with race. It has everything to do with riots," Johnson told WISN-AM. "I completely did not anticipate that anybody could interpret what I said as racist. It's not."

However, the senator originally prefaced his statements to syndicated radio host Joe Pagliarulo about the riot by conceding they be controversial.

"I knew those were people who love this country, that truly respect law enforcement, would never do anything to break the law, so I wasn't concerned," Johnson said.

"Now, had the tables been turned, and Joe — this is going to get me in trouble — had the tables been turned and President Trump won the election and tens of thousands of Black Lives Matter and antifa," Johnson added, "I might have been a little concerned."

Johnson claimed Monday that his remarks shouldn't be considered racist because many Black Lives Matter protesters were white.

"Remember those leftist activists, those protesters, that some of them turned into riots, a lot of them are white," Johnson said. "So there's no racism involved in this at all."