Facing growing backlash from Democrats and even lawmakers from his own party — as well as GOP voters — for sending the House into recess during the shutdown, Speaker Mike Johnson is turning his anger toward Democrats and the broader left.

As Politico reported on Friday, Johnson is “dead set on keeping the House out of session as long as it takes to pressure Senate Democrats” on the shutdown, to pass the House’s continuing resolution to fund the government.

The Speaker suggested tensions are so high in the halls of Congress right now that he thinks Democrats need to be “physically separated” from Republicans.

“Emotions are high. People are upset — I’m upset,” Johnson said on Thursday. “Is it better for them, probably, to be physically separated right now? Yeah, it probably is, frankly.”

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Johnson, who was set to host a now-postponed private Palm Beach, Florida “retreat” and fundraiser this weekend, went even further on Friday morning.

“We’re so angry about it,” he told Fox News. “I mean, I’m a very patient guy, but I have had it with these people,” the Speaker said, emphatically, of Democrats. “They’re playing games with real people’s lives.”

“The theory we have right now — they have a hate-America rally that’s scheduled for October 18 on the National Mall. It’s the pro-Hamas wing and Antifa people, they’re all coming out. Some of the House Democrats are selling T-shirts for the event. ”

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“And it’s being told to us that they won’t be able to re-open the government until after that rally, ’cause they can’t face their rabid base,” Johnson said, adding that he is “beyond words.”

Johnson appeared to be referring to the “No Kings” rally, a protest against authoritarianism, which is not only being held in Washington, D.C. on October 18, but nationwide.

Mike Johnson: “We’re so angry about it. I mean, I’m a very patient guy, but I’ve had it with these people. The theory we have right now — they have a hate America rally that’s scheduled for October 18 on the National Mall. It’s the pro-Hamas wing and antifa people … ” pic.twitter.com/QKlHo9zRq2

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 10, 2025

READ MORE: ‘I Know People. They Don’t Believe That’: Marjorie Taylor Greene Scorches Johnson

Image via Reuters 

House Democrats working in Washington this week have been scolding their Republican counterparts for remaining in their home districts during the shutdown instead of doing the people’s business in the nation’s capital. Now, even some Republicans are beginning to question Speaker Mike Johnson’s strategy — and to side with Democrats — saying they, too, should be back in D.C.

“During a private conference call with House Republicans on Thursday, at least three GOP lawmakers — Reps. Stephanie Bice of Oklahoma, Jay Obernolte of California and Julie Fedorchak of North Dakota — raised concerns about the House remaining out of session next week, according to a source on the call,” MSNBC reported on Thursday.

“I think we’re gonna get to a point where it’s damaging to continue to keep the House out of session,” Obernolte told his fellow Republicans. “I think we’ve gotten to that point.”

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Obernolte “said keeping lawmakers home would make it look like House Republicans are ‘prioritizing politics over government,’ according to the source.”

On Sunday, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries told “Meet the Press” that he had not spoken to GOP leadership for at least a week, Politico reported.

“Republicans, including Donald Trump, have gone radio silent,” Jeffries said.

On Wednesday, seven House and Senate Democrats from Georgia sent a letter to Speaker Johnson, urging him to bring Republicans back to work, WRDW reported.

“We are shocked to learn that you have decided the U.S. House of Representatives will not even come to work this week,” the letter states, according to the Atlanta media outlet. “House Republicans have now not come to work for 18 days.”

U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) wrote on Wednesday, “House Republicans are assaulting healthcare and making deep cuts to Medicaid, Medicare and the ACA. Are House Republicans also shutting down the government and avoiding coming to DC because they don’t want to vote on releasing the Epstein Files? That’s a legitimate question.”

READ MORE: ‘Twice the Size of a Glass of Water’: Trump Invents Wild Claim on Babies’ Vaccines

Also on Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern told reporters Republicans need to “show up.”

“You know,” the Massachusetts Democrat said, “Republicans love to advocate for more work requirements for poor people, people on SNAP. People on Medicaid. Well, I got an idea. Let’s have a work requirement for Republicans to show up to Congress and do your g– job.”

“I mean, millions of people are about to lose their healthcare,” McGovern continued. “This is a serious crisis we’re in, and we can avoid it. We can avoid people losing their health care, we can keep the government open. They need to show up.”

McGovern: Republicans love to advocate for more work requirements for poor people… Let’s have a work requirement for Republicans to show up to congress and do your god damn job. pic.twitter.com/XC5sje9qft

— Acyn (@Acyn) October 8, 2025

READ MORE: ‘I Know People. They Don’t Believe That’: Marjorie Taylor Greene Scorches Johnson

President Donald Trump is continuing to make incorrect claims about vaccines, autism, and children.

In Thursday’s televised Cabinet meeting, the President wrongly expressed the rate of autism in boys, nearly doubling it. The rate is about one in 20 boys, but President Trump claimed it is one in 12. He also claimed the rate for girls was far higher than actual. The overall rate, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is one in 31 children.

The President also wrongly expressed the actual size of the vaccines babies get, as he suggested a disproven vaccines-autism link.

“So, obviously, there’s something, there’s something that’s artificially, I think, induced, something, whether it’s the vaccines in terms of these massive vaccines that are twice the size of a jar like that, of a glass of water like that,” he claimed, “I mean, into a baby’s body, and I’ve suggested get them in doses, get them in, you know, maybe 20%, 30%, but smaller, not such a big —”

He also said that, under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., there were “certain recommendations” that the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella vaccine (MMR) be split apart and taken separately, as three vaccine shots.

Trump on Autism: Obviously, something that is artificially induced, whether it’s the vaccines in terms of these massive vaccines twice the size of a jar like that, a glass of water like that, into a baby’s body. pic.twitter.com/ciHLZwcxFs

— Acyn (@Acyn) October 9, 2025

READ MORE: ‘Unfolding Rapidly’: Trump Wants to ‘Stoke Violence’ to Invoke Insurrection Act Says Expert

Image via Reuters