Republican US House speaker Mike Johnson advocated for a brutal form of vigilante justice to be performed on the Democratic California governor, Gavin Newsom, on Tuesday, saying he should be “tarred and feathered” for his opposition to immigration agents’ enforcement actions in the state.
Newsom replied: “Good to know we’re skipping the arrest and going straight for the 1700’s style forms of punishment. A fitting threat given the [Republicans] want to bring our country back to the 18th century,” when what is now the US was ruled by a monarch.
This came after the Louisiana congressman declined to say if Newsom and other California officials should be arrested – as Trump and his “border czar”, Tom Homan, have recently floated – for allegedly impeding federal deportations.
Tarring and feathering, in which the recipient is stripped naked and wood tar is applied to the skin followed by feathers, is first recorded as being used in 1189 in orders issued by Richard I of England during the Crusades.
But it became a more common form of vigilante justice for tax evaders, customs officials and others in British colonies in North America and used by Continental forces against the British during the American revolutionary war. It is now most commonly used as a metaphor for the application of public humiliation.
Johnson’s comment follows days of verbal sparring between Trump, members of his administration and elected officials in California in response to the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) raids on Los Angeles businesses, the protests that followed and the ordering of national guard troops and marines into the city.
On Sunday, Homan refused to rule out arresting Newsom or the Los Angeles mayor, Karen Bass, after issuing previous threats of arrest for anyone who obstructs immigration enforcement.
“I’ll say it about anybody,” Homan said. “You cross that line – it’s a felony to knowingly harbor and conceal an illegal alien. It’s a felony to impede law enforcement doing their job.”
But Homan did not directly accuse Newsom, Bass or any California politician of impeding Ice enforcement. Asked about the LA mayor, he said he did not believe “she’s crossed the line yet”.
Newsom later pushed back against Homan, goading him to carry out an arrest, saying: “Come after me – arrest me. Let’s just get it over with, tough guy. I don’t give a damn.”
A day later, Trump was asked if he supported Homan’s suggestion he might arrest the California governor. “I would do it if I were Tom. I think it’s great,” Trump said. “I like Gavin Newsom. He’s a nice guy. But he’s grossly incompetent.”
He added: “Gavin likes the publicity, but I think it would be a great thing.”
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Yet later, both sides were looking to dial down the rhetoric. Homan told CBS News “there’s no intention to arrest” Newsom and said: “That whole thing’s been taken out of context.
“They haven’t crossed a line yet … If you cross that line, I don’t care who they are – the governor, the mayor, whatever – and when you commit a crime against Ice officers, we will seek prosecution.”
In his comments on Tuesday, Johnson repeated his position that any decision to arrest Newsom was not his to make, but the governor was “standing in the way of the administration of carrying out federal law”.
“He is applauding the bad guys and standing in the way of the good guys,” Johnson said. “He is a participant, an accomplice.”
He added: “I’m not going to give you legal analysis on whether Gavin Newsom should be arrested. But he ought to be tarred and feathered, I’ll say that.”
