House Speaker Mike Johnson declared that Republicans “defended” Nazism when asked about whether his political party has a problem with neo-Nazi members. Reporters on Thursday asked Johnson about a swastika symbol posted on the congressional office wall of MAGA Rep. Dave Taylor (R-OH) and a recently leaked group chat with adult Republican leaders declaring “I love Hitler” and talking about placing their people in gas chambers for voting against their preferred political candidates.

“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.”

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Bring back virtue signaling. “Vice signaling” is exhausting and cringe.

“We have stood against that, we have fought against the Nazis,” Johnson said, adding, “We defended that evil ideology. We roundly condemn it, and anybody in any party who espouses it, we’re opposing that.”

Numerous online commenters caught Johnson’s misspeaking, with many calling it a “Freudian slip,” an unintentional error regarded as revealing subconscious feelings.

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While Vice President J.D. Vance tried to excuse the antisemitic leaked chat, calling its participants a bunch of “kids,” all of the chat’s members appear to range between ages 24 and 35. Also, while Johnson claimed to repudiate Nazism in his party, numerous high-profile Republicans defended presidential administration member Elon Musk after he delivered a Nazi salute during the president’s January inauguration.

Mike Johnson:

“We fought the Nazis, we've defended that evil ideology.”

pic.twitter.com/tsTky2xrsy

— Spencer Hakimian (@SpencerHakimian) October 16, 2025

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