House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) was torn apart on social media on Friday after comments he made about the upcoming midterm elections and what would happen to President Donald Trump’s allies if Democrats took control of Congress.

Johnson, in what he likely meant as a warning to the GOP, predicted numerous Trump and Republican-adjacent figures would be investigated if Democrats prevail in November.

“If we were to lose the midterms, heaven forbid, these Democrats, y’all impeachment’s not even the big concern,” Johnson said at the Faith and Freedom Coalition Conference on Friday,

“They will turn every committee of Congress into an investigative body, and they’ll go after the president’s family, the cabinet, his donors and friends, half of you in this room will be targeted. I run the protection program. I’ll take care of you. We’re going to win the midterms,” he continued.

Johnson: If we lose the midterms, these Democrats will turn every committee of Congress into an investigative body, and they'll go after the president's family, the cabinet, his donors, friends, half of you in this room will be targeted. I run the protection program. We’ll take…

Some critics jumped on Johnson’s use of the phrase “protection program,” likening it to what a “mob boss from Brooklyn” would say, while others suggested Johnson’s comments were tantamount to an admission of criminal activity.

Some commenters pointed out that Congress’s job is not to “protect the President and his family.”

“It’s to provide checks and balances on the Executive Branch. You’re damn right we will investigate crimes and corruption,” Missouri congressional candidate Fred Wellman wrote on X.

It'd be nice to have a Speaker who'd say: "And let them, we have nothing to hide, and they'll look like fools for doing it."But what he's saying here is: They're gonna uncover a lot of stuff, and you don't want that. https://t.co/K3iJt8Vtxi

Mike Johnson giving Democrats more reasons to vote: https://t.co/QhfQwYJxUy

Mike Johnson: I run a criminal protection racket https://t.co/v3PGwWvfyP

This is the most corrupt words to come out of a Speaker's mouth imaginable. The job of Congress isn't to protect the President and his family. It's to provide checks and balances on the Executive Branch. You're damn right we will investigate crimes and corruption. Who moved $180… https://t.co/KfAwDdfaIz

Just the Speaker of the House pledging that if you vote Republican he will continue to make sure all the corruption and criminality happening in the Trump admin will be covered up by him and his do-nothing committee chairs. https://t.co/ESI9rxdgFX

Good point.If you think politicians, billionaires, elites, and members of the Epstein Class should be able to do whatever they want without any accountability, vote Republican this Fall. https://t.co/EJ7VbaRIni

Don’t threaten us with a good time, Mike. 😂😂😂 https://t.co/Ye0RBogXTN

“I run the protection program. I’ll take care of you.”That’s Mike Johnson, Speaker of the House, talking to a room full of donors today.The Speaker of the House just talked like a guy guarding a operation that can’t survive daylight. Because that’s exactly what he’s doing.… https://t.co/kjQQQeWxBm

Mike Johnson saying the quiet part out loud: protect the powerful. Screw everyone else. https://t.co/7I8OfKGvNH

Mike Johnson is from Louisiana but sounds like a mob boss from Brooklyn. https://t.co/BzI2mKQNYG

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