The No Kings rally in Washington, D.C., was peaceful and plainly patriotic.

I looked everywhere for Mike Johnson at the No Kings rally in the heart of the nation’s Capitol last Saturday. I even wore my Civil Beat press pass so I could ask him questions, one professional to another.

But the House speaker was nowhere to be found. Maybe he took the day off. The government was shut down, of course, and House representatives were on an extended paid recess.

I covered the protest in my role as a journalist and, after a few hours, I wanted to ask Johnson why he’d said the gatherings opposing President Donald Trump were “hate America” rallies. Because all I saw that day were tens of thousands of people of all ages and backgrounds exercising the right to peaceably assemble along with the freedom

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