Speaker Mike Johnson Blames Viral Town Hall Protests on 'Paid' Democrats

House Speaker Mike Johnson alleged that pro-Medicaid protestors at town hall meetings are Democrats who have been paid to attend and disrupt the meetings while speaking to Kaitlan Collins on CNN's "The Source." (Credit: CNN)

Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson alleged that pro-Medicaid protestors at town hall meetings advocating against spending cuts for the federal program are Democrats who have been paid to attend and disrupt the meetings.

Louisiana Rep. Mike Johnson made the accusations while speaking to CNN's Kaitlan Collins on "The Source" Wednesday. Collins asked Johnson about the negative reactions Republican representatives received from their constituents due to their advocacy in favor of Medicaid funding cuts.

"The videos you saw of the town halls were paid protestors. In many of those places, these are Democrats that went to the events early and filled up the seats," Johnson responded.

Johnson: The videos you saw of the town halls were for paid protesters

Collins: A Republican acknowledged they were his constituents.

Johnson: They had Democrats come and fill the seats pic.twitter.com/EnPfxMaled

— Acyn (@Acyn) February 27, 2025

Collins then countered the House speaker's point by mentioning that a Republican legislator acknowledged the protestors as his constituents.

"One Republican acknowledged that they were his constituents, that's fantastic, OK, but they had Democrats come and fill the seats early. This is an old playbook that they pulled out and ran and it made it look like what is happening in Washington is unpopular," Johnson stated.

"But I'm gonna tell you, Kaitlan, the American people are behind what's happening. The DOGE efforts are polling over 80% right now. They want us to find deficiencies in the federal government. They want the government to be smaller, leaner and more accountable to the taxpayers and that's what these efforts are all about," he continued.

Johnson did not provide evidence that the protestors present at such meetings received compensation for their presence or that they were even aligned with the Democratic party.

The House speaker's sentiments echoed those of President Donald Trump while campaigning in 2016 for his first presidential term, where he chalked protestors against his campaign up to "paid agitators" deployed by Democrats to disrupt his campaign efforts.

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