Speaker, ABC Host Spar Over Trump Election Rhetoric

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and ABC News "This Week" host George Stephanopoulos spent the majority of a Sunday interview arguing over what questions to answer.

Stephanopoulos spent the majority of his interview trying to get Johnson to respond to a statement former President Donald Trump made at his most recent Butler, Pennsylvania rally, where he stated:

"Over the past eight years, those who want to stop us from achieving this future have slandered me, impeached me, indicted me, and tried to throw me off the ballot. And who knows? Maybe even tried to kill me?"

The clip of Trump speaking, taken by ABC News, was immediately followed up with a clip from Trump's son, Eric Trump, speaking at the rally, stating: "They tried to kill him."

"So," Stephanopoulos asked Johnson, "is it right for the president and his family to suggest that Democrats are behind the effort to assassinate him?"

Reacting to the clip, Johnson told Stephanopoulos, "I think what they're alluding to is what we've all been saying: They have got to turn the rhetoric down."

"For years now, the leading Democrats in this country, the – the highly – highest elected officials, and the current nominee for president have gone out and said that Donald Trump is a threat to democracy. That, you know, the republic will end if he's reelected."

Stephanopoulos then pressed Johnson on a series of gotcha questions, mostly in regards to Jan. 6., such as: "Can you say unequivocally that Joe Biden won the 2020 election and Donald Trump lost? What would you do next Jan. 6 if you are indeed speaker? If every state completes the certification process successfully, will you accept the results even if [Vice President] Kamala Harris is the winner?"

Amid Stephanopoulos's pressing, Johnson requested the news anchor to ask him a policy question. But Stephanopoulos refused.

When it came to asking Johnson about election fraud, in an effort to grab a sound bite from the speaker that the election was stolen, Johnson refrained for a second and then mentioned how, throughout his travels across the country this campaign season, voters have told him that election security is a primary concern for them.

"I'll tell you that election security is a major concern of the American people. The first or second question, almost without exception in every audience and crowd, is about election security."

"I think," he added, "the latest poll says 60% of Americans and both parties are worried about that. They're worried about election interference by foreign nationals like Iran who's trying to meddle in our elections. They're worried about, of course, illegals voting, non-citizens voting. That is against federal law."

Newsmax has found no evidence that Iran or Russia or China has meddled in the lead-up to the upcoming election. However, the FBI did release a statement claiming that "Russia, Iran, and China are trying by some measure to exacerbate divisions in U.S. society for their own benefit, and see election periods as moments of vulnerability. Efforts by these, or other foreign actors, to undermine our democratic institutions are a direct threat to the U.S. and will not be tolerated."

Nonetheless, and despite the agency providing no evidence, the statement from the FBI can only be taken on good faith.