Author: Catherine Bouris
Published: Oct. 1, 2025
Updated: Oct. 2, 2025
A new clip has emerged of House Speaker Mike Johnson’s confrontation with Rep. Madeleine Dean, showing Johnson seemingly agreeing that Donald Trump is “unwell.”
Footage aired by MSNBC’s All In with Chris Hayes on Wednesday night shows Dean telling Johnson:
“The president is unhinged. He is unwell.”
Johnson responds:
“A lot of folks on your side are too, I don’t control him…”
This exchange appears to concede Dean’s point about the president’s state, while deflecting responsibility.
Dean scoffs in response:
“Oh my God, please. That performance in front of the generals?”
This refers to a rambling address Trump gave to senior military leaders earlier that day, which was criticized by fact-checkers for containing “a lot of lies.” CNN outlined several, including Trump’s claims about President Biden and immigration.
Johnson claimed not to have seen Trump’s speech, telling Dean, “I didn’t see it.” Dean pressed on, warning:
“It’s so dangerous! You know I serve on Foreign Affairs and Appropriations, it’s a collision of those two things. Our allies are looking elsewhere. Our enemies are laughing. You have a president who is unwell.”
The confrontation stemmed from Trump’s AI-generated video of Schumer and Jeffries, which depicted Jeffries with a mustache and sombrero while an AI-dubbed Schumer spoke as mariachi music played. Dean called the video “disgraceful” and “racist,” urging Johnson to call it out. Johnson replied, “It wasn’t my style.”
When asked about the conversation later by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, Johnson said:
“I’m the Speaker of the House, so I represent Republicans and Democrats in that capacity, and I always hear complaints and concerns from members, and I always stop and hear that. I did that for Madeleine Dean; I respect her as an individual. 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. 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.”
Speculation about Trump’s health continues, with concerns about possible dementia and physical issues, though the White House denies any major health problems.
Source: The Daily Beast