Mike Johnson reportedly said on a hot mic that it would be ‘huge’ for the GOP if the SAVE America Act decreased voter turnout. Here’s the real story

Claim:

Footage recirculated online purportedly shows House Speaker Mike Johnson “hot mic”ing Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry saying it would be “huge” for the Republican Party if the Save America Act reduced voter turnout between 12% and 18%.

Rating:

What is the truth:

Forbes posted a live video feed that captured a pre-event conversation between Johnson, Landry and U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, in which they can be heard discussing potential voter turnout in Louisiana’s upcoming election. Short clips from that feed were posted online with false captions to give the impression that they were discussing the Save America Act, potentially reducing voter turnout.

What is wrong:

The special election they were discussing had nothing to do with federal matters like the SAVE America Act, and Landry predicted an increase, not a decrease, in voter turnout. In the end, the voter turnout for the election they were discussing was higher than Landry’s 12%-18% estimate. At no time did any politician say that the SAVE America Act, or the SAVE Act as it was called at the time, would potentially reduce voter turnout.

In early 2026, US President Donald Trump and the Republican Party began renewing efforts to pass the SAVE America Act, which had failed as the SAVE Act the previous year. The bill requires proof of citizenship to be provided when registering to vote and identification accepted when voting in all 50 states.

During this push, a video circulated online purportedly of US House Speaker Mike Johnson talking to fellow Republican Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, saying it would be “huge” for his party if the SAVE America Act reduced voter turnout between 12% and 18%.

For example, an Instagram user posted a clip within a reaction video. The user claimed that it showed Johnson on a “hot mic” asking Landry about the expected voter turnout and commenting, when Landry answered between 12% and 18%, “It’s going to be big for us.” Notably, the person providing the commentary on the video said Johnson was praising the drop in voter turnout from that range, while the caption said Johnson was praising a possible 12% to 18% turnout. The post read:

Speaker Mike Johnson got caught on a hot mic saying the quiet part out loud: The Savings Act could reduce voter turnout by 12% to 18% and that would be “huge” for Republicans.

So let’s be clear, this bill was never about election security. It’s about voter suppression. period. 🚨

The clip, along with Johnson’s claim that it would be good for low-voter Republicans, also went viral on Facebook and Reddit (archived). A Reddit thread (archived) also claimed that the footage showed Johnson gloating over the drop in voter turnout between 12% and 18%.

While the clip of Johnson and Landry speaking originated from an authentic, longer video, the version in the posts was edited in such a way that it left out the context that the pair were speaking about the general expected turnout in the Louisiana-only election. That election had nothing to do with the Save America Act, which Congress has yet to pass, as of this writing (archived), and none of the politicians involved in the conversation ever mentioned the bill.

Therefore, we have rated this claim as mostly false.

Origin of the video

On March 24, 2025, the business magazine Forbes posted a live stream on YouTube of Landry and US President Donald Trump giving a news briefing on Korean car company Hyundai’s decision to invest $5.8 billion to develop a steel manufacturing plant in Louisiana. Landry posted photos on Facebook the same day, showing that he and Johnson were there for the announcement.

Johnson, Landry and other participants, Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., appeared around a lectern 10 minutes before Trump arrived. Various attendees chatted among themselves while waiting for the President. From the audience’s perspective, Landry stood to the right of the lectern, Johnson to its left and Scalise, who was also involved in the voter turnout conversation, stood to Johnson’s left.

After the 11th minute, Johnson and Landry could be heard — possibly through a lectern microphone between them — discussing the amendment to be put to a public vote. Scalise and Landry then discussed the event on Saturday (March 29, 2025) and Scalise mentioned the council race in Jefferson Parish (parishes are essentially the Louisiana names for counties).

On March 29, a few days after the news briefing, Louisiana held largely local elections, except for a few statewide constitutional amendment votes. Landry encouraged voters to support the amendment. He mentioned in the conversation that he did not think that the opposition had spent so much money against the amendment for a long time.

Then, at the 11:39 mark in the recording, Johnson asked Landry about voting for the March 29 election:

Johnson: What’s the expected turnout?

Landry: Well, we thought it would be 12, but it looks like it might be 18%.

Johnson: That would be huge for the election. I mean, for the amendment vote.

For Louisiana’s election date with no major races beyond the amendment vote, 18% is a reasonably high turnout, not low. For example, the most recent amendment vote before that, held on December 7, 2024, saw only 11.3% turnout.

Official voter turnout for March 29, 2025, has nearly doubled to 21.5%.

The proposed amendments were overwhelmingly rejected by voters. After the result, Landry issued a news release blaming the loss “[billionaire George] Soros and far-left liberals poured “millions of propaganda and outright lies into Louisiana.”

At no point during the conversation between the three Louisiana politicians did anyone say the SAVE America Act, or the SAVE Act, as it was called at the time, would potentially reduce voter turnout.

Sources:

Deng, Rai. ‘Why the Save America Act could change how you vote if it passes the US Senate’. Snopes19 March 2026, https://www.snopes.com//tracker/senate-vote-save-america-act/.

Forbes Breaking News. “Watch live: President Trump and Gov. Jeff Landry hold press briefing at White House.” YouTube24 March 2025, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oh7mDBPoyDc. Accessed 23 March 2026.

Frazzini, Kevin. “9 Things to Know About the Proposed Save America Act.” National Conference of State Legislatures19 Feb. 2026, www.ncsl.org/state-legislatures-news/details/9-things-to-know-about-the-proposed-save-america-act. Accessed 23 March 2026.

“Governor Landry Addresses March 29 Election Results | Office of Governor Jeff Landry.” Louisiana.gov29 Mar. 2025, gov.louisiana.gov/news/4812. Accessed 23 March 2026.

“Governor Landry joins President Trump to announce that Hyundai Motor Group has selected Louisiana as the site of a first-of-its-kind, $5.8 billion steel manufacturing facility. Office of Governor Jeff Landry.” Louisiana.gov24 Mar. 2025, gov.louisiana.gov/news/4808. Accessed 23 March 2026.

Landry, Jeff. “Today, we joined President Donald J. Trump to announce that Hyundai is investing nearly $6 billion in Ascension Paris!.” Facebook.com24 March 2025, www.facebook.com/LandryforLA/posts/pfbid04XJiQWyJJuLtHQ2TddJxMpYe9fL9NdBMtWBeXscL2yotCGKuqs1UApVWnBEZEhUtl. Accessed 23 March 2026.

“2025 Constitutional Amendment Public Affairs Research Council’s PAR Guide – Louisiana.” Public Affairs Research Council – Louisiana24 Feb. 2025, parlouisiana.org/publications/guide-to-the-constitutional-amendments/. Accessed 23 March 2026.