Johnson on homeland security: Biden admin didn't prioritize 'the right things'

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) criticized President Biden's administration's handling of homeland security following the deadly New Orleans truck attack, arguing they did not prioritize “the right things.” 

Johnson said he spoke to Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry (R) and the state's Attorney General Liz Murrill (R) who he said are "doing a great job" on the ground. He noted that local officials are "doing all that they can" but argued that "federal partners to do their job."

“And there is some frustration, as was articulated at the top of the program that I think is very well placed. You know, for four years now, the Biden administration has taken its eye off the ball. I mean, they did not prioritize, in our view, the right things,” Johnson said during his Thursday appearance on Fox Business show “Kudlow.” 

“The FBI was off doing all these various and sundry things, putting their emphasis in their investigations and their eye on, you know, conservative Catholics and concerned parents at school board meetings and all these other things, they tried to convince us that the greatest threat to the homeland was racially motivated extremism,” he added. “When we all looked at the wide open border and thought logically that that might lead to terrorist attacks in the future.” 

Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, is the suspect behind the New Orleans truck rampage on New Year’s Day that killed at least 14 people and injured dozens more. Jabbar slammed a Ford pickup truck into a crowd of people on Bourbon Street before he was killed by police. He was a U.S. citizen from Texas who served in the Army from 2007 to 2020. 

An ISIS flag and post on social media sympathizing with the U.S.-designated terrorist group was discovered in the aftermath, according to police. 

Johnson made similar remarks on Fox News earlier on Thursday, criticizing the Biden administration for its handling of the U.S.-Mexico border. 

While on Fox Business, Johnson said “dramatic change” is needed. 

“And this emphasizes, once again, why this election was so important to the country and we cannot get President Trump here soon enough 18 days away from his inauguration, and his cabinet coming in and we need all of these people that he's chosen, who are ‘Law and Order types’ who will get control of these agencies, including the FBI and the DOJ to get to work immediately,” he told Larry Kudlow.