U.S. President Donald Trump sits at his desk, as U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) holds a hat that reads "America is back", while Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and Senator John Barrasso (R-WY) look on, at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 3, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) caught heat on Tuesday after he made what analysts described as a "deeply irresponsible" comment about U.S. elections.
During an interview on Newsmax, Johnson was asked about President Donald Trump's recent call for Republicans to "nationalize" parts of the election process. The president claimed that doing so would clean up alleged "fraud" committed against him. Trump has never produced any evidence to back up that claim since he began making it in 2020, after he lost the election to former President Joe Biden.
"We had three Republican House candidates who were ahead on Election Day in the last cycle, and every time a new tranche of ballots came in, they just magically whittled away until their leads were lost," Johnson said. "In no series of ballots after election day were our candidates ahead in those counts. It looks on its face to be fraudulent. Can I prove that? No, because it happened so far upstream."
Political analysts and observers sounded off on social media against Johnson's claims.
"This is disgraceful stuff from Mike Johnson," Rep. Mike Levin (D-CA) posted on Bluesky. "He feeds Trump’s conspiracy machine with utter nonsense. He knows late-counted mail and provisional ballots routinely come in last and often lean Democratic. But telling the truth doesn’t serve his dear leader."
"I know this word has lost its value, but this man, this Speaker, is a disgrace," journalist Mehdi Hasan posted on X.
"Republicans not understanding the nature of linear time would explain a lot tbh," Jacob Weindling, editor-at-large for Splinter, posted on Bluesky.
"What a deeply irresponsible statement," Sam Stein, managing editor of The Bulwark, posted on X.
"Johnson knows why this occurs; it’s all about WHEN states decide to count certain votes, including same-day vs absentee or mail-in," journalist Chuck Todd posted on X.
Mike Johnson on Trump calling for Rs to "nationalize" elections: "We had 3 Republican candidates who were ahead on election day in last cycle, and every time a new tranche of ballots came in they just magically whittled away until their leads were lost. It looks on its face to be… pic.twitter.com/wmeatnYZcF
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 3, 2026