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House Speaker Mike Johnson appears to have admitted that U.S. President Donald Trump is “unwell.”
In a confrontation with Democratic Rep. Madeleine Dean on Tuesday, Johnson seemingly conceded to her point that the president was “unhinged.”
Footage of the exchange emerged on MSNBC’s All In With Chris Hayes on Wednesday night after the pair were earlier filmed discussing Trump’s AI video slammed as racist.
- House Speaker Mike Johnson appeared to concede that former President Trump is 'unwell' during a tense exchange with Rep. Madeleine Dean.
- Johnson refrained from condemning Trump's AI video mocking House Minority Leader Jeffries, calling it 'not my style' despite accusations of racism.
- Rep. Dean criticized Trump’s speech to military generals as dangerous, highlighting his threats to fire leaders who disagree with him.
Congresswoman Madeleine Dean confronted Mike Johnson over Donald Trump
Image credits: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
“The president is unhinged. He is unwell,” Dean can be heard telling Johnson.
“A lot of folks on your side are too, I don’t control him,” Johnson replied, without disputing that Trump was unwell.
Dean then referenced Trump’s speech to top military brass at the Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia, during which Trump told gathered generals they could leave if they didn’t like what he was saying, but then they would be sacked.
MADELEINE DEAN: The president is unhinged. He is unwell.
MIKE JOHNSON: A lot of folks on your side are too
DEAN: Oh my god, please. That performance in front of the generals?
MIKE JOHNSON: I didn’t see it
DEAN: It’s so dangerous! Our allies are looking elsewhere. Our enemies… pic.twitter.com/WNvZRo638S
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 2, 2025
He also told reporters beforehand that he would fire admirals and leaders he didn’t like “on the spot.”
“Oh my god, please. That performance in front of the generals?” Dean said to Johnson ahead of the federal government shutdown.
Johnson then claimed he “didn’t see it.”
Image credits: Serhiy Morgunov/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images
“It’s so dangerous! You know I serve on Foreign Affairs and Appropriations, it’s a collision of those two things,” Dean continued.
“Our allies are looking elsewhere. Our enemies are laughing. You have a president who is unwell.”
This was not the only tense exchange between the pair that day. Dean also criticized Johnson for failing to condemn a Truth Social post on Trump’s account.
Trump posted two videos of Jeffries wearing a sombrero on Truth Social
Image credits: Donald J Trump
In Trump’s AI-generated clip, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is wearing a sombrero and has a handlebar mustache, while Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer tells the media that the Democrats are giving illegal immigrants free health care because they need new voters. Mariachi music plays in the background of the clip.
After receiving backlash, Trump doubled down to share a second post.
In that clip, Jeffries is speaking to MSNBC about the AI-generated footage, describing it as “disgusting” while a news banner at the bottom of the clip describes the footage as racist.
Image credits: Donald J Trump
While Jeffries is speaking, a sombrero and handlebar mustache land on his face, and four AI-generated versions of Trump pop up in the background wearing sombreros and playing Mexican music.
In footage that emerged Tuesday, Dean directly addressed the clips inside the Capitol building, pressing Johnson on whether he had raised the issue with Trump.
Johnson told her, “It wasn’t my style.”
Dem. Rep Madeline Dean just confronted Speaker Johnson ahead of a shutdown and urged him to reconsider his position on ACA subsidies and Medicaid cuts.
Also brought up Trump’s post last night about Jeffries and Schumer
Johnson said the post “wasn’t his style” pic.twitter.com/dgnc6lDBHl
— Reese Gorman (@reesejgorman) September 30, 2025
“Not your style?” Dean responded. “It’s disgraceful, it’s bigoted, it’s racist. You should call it out.”
Johnson then simply asked if the clip was racist.
“Is is racist?” Dean exclaimed. “You put a sombrero on a black man who is the leader of the house. You don’t see that as racist? We need you desperately to lead.”
In a later interview on CNN with Kaitlan Collins, Johnson was asked about the confrontation and said he always stops to hear complaints from all members as Speaker of the House.
Democrats slammed Trump’s posts as racist
Image credits: Alex Wong/Getty Images
“We disagree on every policy matter, and she was concerned about a social media post of the president, which he meant as a joke, and we talked about that,” he told Collins.
“I told her I disagreed with her perspective on it, but I tried to bring her back to the real issue.
“The fight tonight is not about social media posts. The fight is about where they’re going to keep the government open for the American people,” Johnson added.
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