WASHINGTON — House Speaker Mike Johnson claimed Monday that “open borders” caused a weekend of mayhem across France that brought widespread looting, arson and clashes with police — arguing Democrats could bring similar chaos to the US.
“France is descending into chaos because they wanted OPEN BORDERS — just like the socialist Democrats in America,” Johnson (R-La.) wrote on X.
“What we are witnessing is a chilling warning for all Americans of what happens if the radical Marxist insurgent left gets their way. America is not merely in a battle of political ideologies — it’s a battle for the preservation of our civilization, our freedoms, and our way of life.”
Johnson added: “If Democrats take back control, it will be open borders and criminal illegals overrunning our country, many of whom want to destroy it.”
President Trump and Vice President JD Vance similarly blamed mass migration for the unrest — as centrist and conservative French politicians accused the country’s political left of fanning the flames.
“Paris is going to be a Muslim city very soon, and that wasn’t the deal,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday.
“I told [French President] Emmanuel [Macron], ‘You should close up your borders.’”
Trump said that French leaders “have to take those bad people out” —implicitly comparing the situation to his own mass-deportation campaign focused on illegal immigrants who commit crimes.
Vance wrote on X Saturday: “Western liberals imported the third world into France and other countries in the name of diversity and compassion. They ignored fundamental questions of assimilation and compatibility. They were told it would lead to this and they didn’t listen.”
Videos posted online from the French riots on Saturday showed mobs of largely young people ransacking luxury stores and throwing items at police. Masked intruders torched the historic town hall in Limoges and as many as 2,000 businesses across the country were damaged.
Many American conservatives have blamed weeks of mounting unrest in France on large-scale migration from less-developed parts of the Middle East and Africa — though footage showed culprits of various racial and ethnic groups.
Protests started last month focused on school conditions and have broadened to include economic concerns about inflation and fuel prices.
About a half-million people protested across France on Saturday before a subset of demonstrators committed criminal activities — in a similar dynamic as occurred across the US in May and June 2020 during anti-police brutality protests following a Minnesota policeman’s murder of George Floyd.
In that last major wave of nationwide protests and rioting in the US, immigrants did not play a leading role in violence, with looting instead spearheaded by native-born urban youth and politically motivated arson and vandalism generally committed by self-described “Antifa,” or anti-fascist, activists.
French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, an ally of centrist Macron, blamed the violence on longtime leftist leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon for allegedly fomenting the weekend rampage. Mélenchon said police violence instigated protesters.
Populist conservative Marine Le Pen, who is leading Mélenchon in polls ahead of the April presidential election, said “legitimate social demands have once again been held hostage by the far left and the speeches of Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s deputies, who, by legitimizing violence, viewing order as oppression and disorder as a right, seek to plunge the country into chaos.”
Republicans are attempting to harness the news from France weeks ahead of the Nov. 3 congressional elections.
The growing influence of self-described socialists among House candidates prompted longtime Democratic operative James Carville to tell The Bulwark on Sunday that he hopes Republicans will win the midterm elections.
“I would rather the Republicans keep the House by five than the Democrats to win by five because if that happens, they’re hostage to the [Democratic Socialists of America],” Carville said.
Trump’s term ends in January 2029, but a Democratic victory would effectively block his legislative agenda and open his administration to intense investigations.
Although Trump has condemned the violence in France, he has a long-held fondness for the nation’s revolutionary spirit — so much so that he launched his 2024 comeback campaign to the song “Do You Hear the People Sing?” from “Les Miserables,” which glorifies a failed anti-government uprising in 1832.
Trump had a military band play multiple songs from that play last month at a state dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping, even though some of the music had been censored by Beijing.
On Friday, Trump noted the historical context during a rally in Georgia while musing about how couples might want to spend his proposed $5,000 rebate checks if Republicans win the midterms.
“France seems to be so damn good for revolutions, it’s unbelievable,” Trump told his audience. “Let’s go to France and join the revolution and spend our $5,000 there. But let’s go anywhere, darling. And she’ll say no, no, the caveat is you have to spend it in the United States of America.”
