Speaker Johnson's team briefed conservative influencers on his election bill before Trump meeting
Rightwing influencers were briefed on House Speaker Mike Johnson’s election bill before his meeting and press conference with Donald Trump.
High-profile right-wing influencers were briefed on House Speaker Mike Johnson’s voter registration bill well in advance of its announcement in what appears to be a coordinated social media campaign meant to drum up support for the legislation, which is dead on arrival on the Senate.
Conservative influencers posted dozens of times before Johnson, R-La., publicly announced the bill alongside former President Donald Trump at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, calling on Congress to pass the bill, which has not yet been filed, and offering policy details that are still not available to the public.
The legislation targets voting by noncitizens, which is already illegal and very rare. Johnson appeared at Mar-a-Lago at a time when his speakership is in a precarious position, with attacks from far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who has a significant social media following. Getting some public support and praise from Trump could give Johnson a bit of protection with the Republican base, as could drumming up support from conservative social media influencers.
At 3:50 p.m. ET Friday, Ryan Fournier, the chair of Students for Trump, who boasts a million followers on X, appears to have been the first to have posted the name and details of the bill.
Johnson’s news conference was scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m. ET Friday, but it began just after 5 p.m. Neither Johnson nor his office would provide specifics about the legislation before Friday's event when they were asked by NBC News. His office confirmed Monday that background information about the bill had been sent in advance to conservative-leaning influencers. In the hours leading up to Johnson and Trump's news conference, social media posters, including Libs of TikTok, DC_Draino and EndWokeness, promoted the legislation online. They all called the bill “the SAVE Act,” though Johnson did not name it as such.
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