“Most recently,” Johnson went on, “the most threatening thing I’ve seen yet was the naked bicyclers in Portland who were protesting ICE down there. I mean, it’s getting really ugly.”

Though the people behind him appeared to stifle a smile, it does not seem that he was joking, because he went on to say that protesters have attacked officers and people have been arrested.

The phrase "the most threatening thing I’ve seen yet was the naked bicyclers in Portland who were protesting ICE down there," cannot logically be anything except a defense of Portland. There is no other logical interpretation. It logically means that Portland has nothing more threatening than peaceful naked bicyclers. They can't even carry a concealed weapon.

But since Johnson is apparently disconnected from reality and basic logic, he can say something that defends Portland and pretend like it is a criticism of Portland. Is it even possible that he's so delusional that he believes what he's saying? No, I think it's very unlikely.

Even though the article says "it does not seem that he was joking," I still have trouble believing it. I have to convince myself that Mike Johnson wouldn't publicly defend Portland as being safe in order to believe that he wasn't joking.

But then, what am I left with? No human being over, say, 15, with reasonable intelligence, could think about that statement that Johnson said and believe he was telling the truth.

So, the explanation is that Mike Johnson is so used to getting away with lying that he'll just say anything. And meanwhile, his audience are so used to not thinking that they don't even call him on it.