Miami is a long way from Wisconsin but that didn’t stop House Speaker Nancy Pelosi from referring to the state’s senior senator, Ron Johnson, as actor Don Johnson.
The Democrat from California at her weekly news briefing Thursday slammed Johnson, a Republican, as “taking the lead” in the GOP’s response to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
“Don Johnson — was his first name Don? What is it Ron? Pelosi told reporters.
Told of the mixup between the staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump and the pastel wearing star of the 1980s series “Miami Vice,” Pelosi corrected herself as she chuckled.
“Senator, let me call him. Not ‘Miami Vice’ or anything like that. Don Johnson” Pelosi said.
“Ron Johnson seems to be taking the lead on what the scope would be of how we look at protecting our country from domestic terrorism,” she added.
Twitter users quickly seized on the slip — or slight.
Chris Redd costars with Don Johnson and fellow “SNL” cast member Kenan Thompson in the NBC sitcom “Kenan.”
“My dawg @DonJohnson on top of mind of those at the top!,” he said. “Love that.”
Azzzzonie posted a photo of the Ferrari Testarossa Johnson’s character Sonny Crockett drove in the series with a photo of the Wisconsin lawmaker.
“No, it’s him,” Azzzzonie said.
Kim Wexler’s Ponytail said Pelosi did not make a mistake.
“If you think that’s an accident, you don’t know Nancy,” Ponytail said in a tweet.
Elyse said there’s no comparison between the two Johnsons.
“Okay, slip of tongue, but we all know Sonny Crockett (Don Johnson) of Miami Vice was waaaay cooler than any politician, and he put the bad guys in jail to boot,” the posting said. “He made five o’clock shadows, no socks, pastel attire, all hot.”
Johnson, the senator, has tried to diminish the severity of the Capitol riot, questioning whether members of the mob were actually armed and claiming that “agents provocateurs” were behind the melee and not Trump supporters.
During the news conference, Pelosi blasted Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who called her proposal to name a Jan. 6 commission to examine the riot “partisan by design.”
She said McConnell was “taking a page out of the book of Senator Johnson.”
