00:00House Speaker's strategy of chronic ignorance revealed.
00:04Reports have pointed out that House Speaker Mike Johnson's recent response to reports of senior immigration and customs enforcement officials being purged.
00:12I'm not aware of that, he said, reflects more than a lack of information.
00:17It highlights a growing pattern in Republican leadership under President Donald Trump.
00:21When Speaker Johnson told reporters he didn't know the details of the ICE purge, it was part of a familiar script.
00:26According to reports, he has built his leadership around what critics call performative ignorance, the practice of dodging controversy by refusing to engage.
00:36I'm not aware has become Johnson's refrain, signaling loyalty to Trump while avoiding direct responsibility.
00:43On October 22nd, when questioned about Trump's reported request for $230 million in reimbursements from the Department of Justice, he again said he didn't know the details.
00:53Even when faced with major policy implications, such as mass federal layoffs discussed on Face the Nation on October 5th, Johnson claimed, I don't know, offering no clarity on timing or scope.
01:05Johnson's calm, pastoral, and deferential demeanor has seemingly made him the embodiment of a new Republican ethos, ignorance as insulation.
01:14A recent The Daily Show montage highlighted his frequent evasions to comic effect.
01:19But beneath the humor lies a serious consequence.
01:22Each denial and shrug transfers more power to the executive branch, effectively sidelining congressional oversight.
01:29He acts as though he is taking the high road.
01:31One commentator noted,
01:32It has been reported that Johnson's behavior isn't isolated, as rising Republican figures now echo his language.
01:45Every, I don't know, chips away at constitutional balance.
01:49The phrase has become both shield and surrender, marking the moment when political survival overtook public duty.
01:54The phrase has become both shield and surrender, marking the moment when political survival overtooks.
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