U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) speaks to the media outside of his office on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., September 16, 2026. REUTERS/Aaron Schwartz REFILE - CORRECTING DATE FROM "JUNE 30" TO "SEPTEMBER 16".
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) was caught on a C-SPAN camera addressing a thin crowd in Texas, just hours after claiming he was “seeing huge energy in crowds.”
Johnson made the claim Tuesday morning on Fox News after host Dana Perino asked him to respond to analysts saying Democrats will win the House.
Hours later, C-SPAN’s live coverage of his rally in Corpus Christi showed a thin audience as he began speaking, a contrast with his claim about crowd energy.
“I’m going to give you a shot here to respond to some political analysts who say the House is gone, that the Dems are definitely going to be in the majority,” Perino said.
“I’m in Texas today. We’ll do three events here, and then I’ll head… I think I’ve got eight states this week,” Johnson replied. “I’ve been doing this for almost two years, and I’m telling you the polling is wrong."
“Now you have a lot of polling organizations right now acknowledging that they’re undersampling Republicans because Republicans don’t wanna respond to polls anymore,” he continued.
The speaker insisted that Republicans were being underestimated by networks like CNN.
“Don’t buy it. I’m telling you, I’m on the ground in the swing districts. I am seeing huge energy in crowds," he told Perino. “It feels like 2024 to me. That’s not registering in the polls, and we’re fired up."
One of those stops was a rally in Corpus Christi, where Johnson was scheduled to appear with Rep. Monica De La Cruz (R-TX) and Republican congressional candidates Tano Tijerina, Eric Flores and Carlos De La Cruz.
“Johnson said earlier: Don’t buy the polls. I am seeing huge energy in the crowds. Here’s video of the crowd at his event right now,” Acyn Torabi, who posts political video clips, wrote on X.
The clip, taken from C-SPAN’s live coverage, showed supporters standing in loose groups with open floor space between them as Johnson took the stage.
“How happy I am to be back in Corpus Christi. Thank you so much for having us,” Johnson told the crowd.
“Man, this is the most important election of our lifetime. No kidding,” he said. “I know you hear that all the time, but it really, really matters right now.”
Johnson is campaigning in more than 40 congressional districts across more than 20 states in the final month before Election Day as Republicans try to hold their narrow House majority, Texas Scorecard reported.
Early voting in Texas begins in less than a week, and several of the candidates are running in districts the Texas Legislature redrew last year to favor Republicans, the outlet said.
Last month, Johnson’s crowd claim at the Republican midterm convention in Dallas also ran up against camera footage when he told Newsmax that “every seat all the way to the rafters is full” while the network showed empty seats.