At a press conference on October 21, House Speaker Mike Johnson — appearing in his usual mien: bespectacled, boyishly coiffed, and vaguely offended, like a ninth-grader confronted with a pop quiz on picture day — confidently blamed the left for advancing an “assassination culture” that is endangering American public servants. “They call every Republican a fascist now,” he said. The comment itself was unremarkable. Since the September 10 murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, President Donald Trump and the GOP have labeled anti-fascist activists “domestic terrorists” and called on the FBI to investigate groups engaged in “anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, and anti-Christianity.”

What was a bit surprising — galling, really — was the occasion for Johnson’s remark: A reporter had aske

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