Speaker Mike Johnson celebrated President Trump’s upcoming speech to Congress on Tuesday by welcoming a group of influencers to Capitol Hill.
During an interview with Fox News host Kayleigh McEnany on Outnumbered, he clarified that he was not present to participate in any entertaining videos or viral stunts with the group.
‘We don’t do dance videos. That is ridiculous I mean that is so cringeworthy!’ he said.
In response to a peculiar ‘Choose your fighter’ video shared by Democratic influencer Sulhee Jessica Woo, Johnson expressed his views. Woo was part of a group that had been invited to the Capitol to produce digital content for the Democratic Party.
Republican influencers mocked the video as ‘cringe’ and ruthlessly tore it apart on social media as it went viral for all the wrong reasons.
Johnson said the video was ‘performance art’ and obviously a failed attempt by Democratic politicians to try to engage young people.
‘If that is the performance, please continue to do that … I would like to see a lot more from them. That is fantastic,’ he said sarcastically.
This viral incident highlighted a change in digital communication. In the past, former President Barack Obama engaged millennials by creating amusing viral videos that captured attention on social media, and in turn, gave a more relatable and authentic image to typically formal politicians.
Emily Austin was among right-leaning influencers who met with Speaker Johnson after Trump’s address to congress
President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington,
House Speaker Mike Johnson, of La., applauds as President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill
But Johnson argued that Gen-Z viewers wanted authenticity and serious conversations about issues they cared about, not digital stunts.
‘This next generation is so thirsty for authenticity, they just see all this performance stuff and it’s detestable to them and they want something that’s real,’ Johnson said.
Johnson met with a group of online right-leaning influencers after the president’s speech and spoke to them about Trump’s agenda and their plans for the future.
‘It was great!’ reporter Emily Austin told DailyMail.com after the meeting. ‘It’s been clear that this new administration is really keen on empowering independent journalists.’
Rep. Jasmine Crockett (left) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (right) were among the House Democratic women who appeared in influencer Sulhee Jessica Woo’s ‘Choose Your Fighter’ video, which prompted groans and eyerolls from conservatives online
Austin said they group discussed the importance of the State of the Union and the importance of Republicans keeping control of the House in the upcoming election.
The group also discussed ways to open up more access to influencers.
‘I left very optimistic, as he’s working to bring NEW MEDIA to the Capitol, just as Trump is doing at the White House,’ wrote Nick Sorter after meeting with Johnson. ‘The days of leftist media coddling and running cover for Democrats at the Capitol are over.’
They also had fun mocking the left for their efforts to communicate online.
‘We discussed everything from last night’s Democrats looking like they were in a giant Rexulti commercial to DOGE’s daily mining of government waste!’ wrote Justine Brooke Murray after the visit with Johnson.
The meeting was also good opportunity to meet with fellow social media personalities and influencers, some of whom they know recognized from online interactions.
Meeting with influencers to help direct a message is certainly not new for political figures, but Republicans led by Trump are having great success.
After seizing majorities in the both the House and the Senate in January, Republicans in Congress are eager to keep their communications momentum moving forward beyond the election and through their attempts to govern.
Republican communications professionals are eager to imitate President Donald Trump’s unique media strategy during the presidential campaign, as he met with podcasters, social media influencers, TikTok stars, and even video game streamers.
Speaker Johnson opened up his office to ‘The Benny Show’ host Benny Johnson who live-streamed a four hour show and spoke with Republican representatives Tim Burchett, Rep. Wesley Hunt, Sen. Katie Britt, Sen. Tommy Tuberville, Sen. Mike Lee, and Sen. Ron Johnson.
‘Ladies and Gentlemen, we’re just having a party, we’re just going to throw down here!’ Johnson said as star Republicans cycled through.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, also stopped by to talk about her first weeks intelligence community.
When Johnson asked Gabbard if she knew what Trump was going to say, she grinned.
‘Would I be the director of national intelligence if I didn’t?’ she said adding she can not share any details because she is in charge of America’s secrets.
Had she shared what she really knew, she would have revealed that Trump was going to announce that United States had just apprehended one of the top terrorists responsible for the Abbey Gate bombing in Afghanistan.
Democrats also welcomed influencer guests on Capitol Hill, but their content was ruthlessly ridiculed online.
Prior to the State of the Union, A stream of videos from Democratic senators featuring a similar script and frenetic ‘jump cut’ edits as they held a wireless microphone and used censored language like ‘s**t’ to appear authentic and draw more attention to their message.
Republican social media stars caught the trend and collected the videos to show the scripted artificial attempt to communicate online with the American people.
The video drew the attention of Elon Musk who posted a mashup of each senator using a similar script to share the same message.
‘Now we’re up to 22 Dem senators all doing the same cringe video simultaneously!’ he wrote incredulously mocking the Democrats for the ‘worst puppet show ever’ and holding the microphones ‘like a teenager doing TikTok videos.
‘I will buy a Cybertruck for anyone can provide proof of who wrote this particular piece of propaganda,; he wrote. ‘First person to post proof in the replies to this post gets the truck!’
It’s unclear whether anyone won the Cybertruck, but the post got the desired effect with 59 million views on the post mocking their digital efforts.
