Mike Johnson has a reflex. When asked about a major breaking news event that is dominating headlines and conversations around Capitol Hill’s proverbial water coolers — usually the president’s latest authoritarian endeavor or national humiliation — Johnson defaults to pretending he has no access to the internet, newspapers, or staff who are quite literally paid to keep him informed.

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No one buys that the House speaker — second in line to the succession of the presidency and one of the most resource-endowed figures in American governance — lives in such deep ignorance of American politics. It must be hard for a man as publicly, perhaps performatively, committed to the rule of law, fairness, and moral governance to constantly be asked about the tsunami of amoral, unethical, and potentially illegal activities emanating from the West Wing and across the administration. Feigning ignorance feels a lesser sin than an outright defense.

It speaks to the contempt Johnson and Republicans have for their own electorate and the American public. They’re not gutting health care funding, they’re saving it from couch-potato Joe. The president isn’t funneling billions into his family’s company coffers, he’s crafting critical deals abroad. The economy is not slowing down and prices aren’t spiking, the tariffs are ushering in a golden age of prosperity. ICE isn’t abusing mothers and children in detention, they’re detaining dangerous narcoterrorists. The speaker of the House isn’t ducking the question, he’s just busy.

Republicans have largely given up on providing an earnest defense for Trump’s actions — instead falling back on a rolodex of justifications that become less effective with the public with every poll. Some, like Johnson, aren’t even bothering. In the end, with the levers of power and accountability squarely under their control, they don’t have to listen to the questions, and they don’t have to respond to concerns. They can simply continue to plow onwards, directed by the president’s whims. Corruption? Ethics violations? Unconstitutionality? You may see it, but they haven’t heard anything about that.