House Speaker Mike Johnson overstepped by boasting about President Donald Trump’s work ethic.
Rather than delivering a straightforward message, he produced another moment that stood in stark relief to the president’s late push to mobilize voters for the 2026 midterm elections.
Johnson stepped onto the podium at a recent rally and uttered a remark about Trump, the 80-year-old who has been crisscrossing the country.
House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana joined the president in Dubuque, Iowa, to host a rally inside the Five Flags Center on Nov. 1.
Johnson, 54, addressed the crowd after his party leader introduced him on stage as “one of the most highly respected people in Washington.”
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Trump told his MAGA supporters, “This highly respected Speaker of the House is with us right now.”
Johnson then stepped to the podium to cheers from the audience. He shared his “love” for Iowa before shouting out local GOP office-seekers.
What began as Johnson advocating for Republican election contenders turned into a brown-nosing session centered around praising Trump.
“I’ve worked almost as hard as this guy,” Johnson said while pointing toward the president. “I try to keep up with him. He doesn’t sleep at all. You understand that?”
Johnson added, “The man calls me at like 1:00 in the morning and also at 5:00 am.” The Shreveport-bred politician continued fawning over Trump by imitating the divisive political figure.
“’Mike, are you sleeping?’” Johnson said, mimicking Trump. He resumed, in his own voice, “‘No, sir. Of course not, sleep is for sissies. Of course not. What’s on your mind, Mr. President?’”
At first, Trump reacted to the Speaker’s impersonation with an unmoved, stern look on his face. His scowl transformed into a smirk, then eventually into a slight smile.
“I’m not going to do the impression in front of you. I’m sorry. I didn’t plan that,” Johnson joked. The rallygoers laughed, but a still-smirking Trump just rocked back and forth on stage behind him.
Johnson’s in-person sucking up did not end there. He also said, “Imitation is the greatest form of flattery. We’re never going to have a president like this again. God bless him.”
The over-the-top adulation of Trump energized the MAGA hat-wearers in the building, but social media users couldn’t get past Johnson claiming the president never sleeps.
“He saves his sleeping for daytime meetings,” quipped one person on Threads in response to a clip of Johnson.
A like-minded commenter on the app expressed, “He sleeps during Oval Office meetings. It’s been documented. Sit down, Mike.”
“Bragging that Trump doesn’t sleep is not the flex he thinks it is. The human body and the brain need sleep to function well,” someone pointed out.
Johnson also faced harsh critiques on X. One tweet read, “Sickening, a speaker of our country would say this when his POTUS lobs the worst unverified insults in the dark of night.”
Throughout his second term, cameras captured Trump dozing off in public settings on multiple occasions.
The billionaire has repeatedly napped at televised White House photo-ops. Trump’s tendency to snooze during live media events sparked reactions to Johnson’s attempted gaslighting about the elderly president’s fitness and stamina.
The House Speaker is not the only Trump-aligned D.C. insider who has pushed the narrative that the president is a sleepless machine who demands late-night phone conversations.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum revealed he received calls from Trump “as late as 2:00 am” during an appearance on the Katie Miller podcast in July.
That same month, Trump’s Border Czar, Tom Homan, also said the commander in chief forced staffers to make policy decisions over the phone between 2:00 am and 4:00 am.
Danielle Brooks
I am a staff writer at New York Beacon, where I focus on culture, entrepreneurship, and the emerging voices redefining Black America. My work highlights innovators, artists, and founders whose stories often unfold beyond mainstream headlines but shape communities in meaningful ways. Through precise reporting and thoughtful storytelling, I aim to document progress, challenge narratives, and contribute to a stronger Black press tradition.