Johnson’s Public Plea Exposes GOP Desperation as Trump’s Popularity Plunges, Sparking Internal Revolt

By Jonathan Weisman and Catie Edmondson Washington — Dec. 4, 2025

House Speaker Mike Johnson, the evangelical conservative who has navigated his precarious leadership by hewing closely to President Donald J. Trump’s demands, let slip a raw edge of panic on Tuesday during a stormy press gaggle outside his Capitol office, as fresh polling data painted a dire picture of the Republican Party’s midterm prospects. With Mr. Trump’s approval rating cratering to 37 percent amid a cascade of self-inflicted wounds — from the 43-day government shutdown to the FCC’s media crackdowns and the Epstein files’ looming release — Mr. Johnson’s voice trembled as he warned that the G.O.P. was “teetering on the brink of catastrophe” and urged “immediate course correction” from the White House. The unfiltered outburst, captured by C-SPAN cameras and viewed over 5 million times online, has ignited a full-throated revolt among House Republicans, with MAGA hard-liners accusing the speaker of disloyalty and moderates demanding a “Trump timeout” to salvage the party’s slim majority before 2026.

The alarm bells rang loudest in a Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday morning, which showed Mr. Trump’s approval dipping to 37 percent — a seven-point plunge from November — with independents breaking against him by 28 points. Disapproval among women hit 64 percent, fueled by his “nasty” jab at former first lady Michelle Obama over the East Wing demolition, while veterans — a bedrock GOP constituency — soured to 51 percent unfavorable amid the Caribbean drone strike scandal. The survey’s generic congressional ballot showed Democrats leading by three points, a reversal from the G.O.P.’s five-point edge in October, with swing-district Republicans trailing by an average of 6 percent. “This isn’t a blip; it’s a freefall,” said GOP pollster Whit Ayres, who consulted for Mr. Trump’s 2024 campaign. “The shutdown backlash, FCC optics, and Epstein whispers are compounding — Trump’s brand is toxic in the burbs.”

Mr. Johnson, 53, confronted the data head-on during the 14-minute scrum with reporters, his typically serene demeanor fracturing under the glare of smartphones and network cameras. “The president is a fighter, and we love him for it, but these polls don’t lie — we’re hemorrhaging support in places we can’t afford to lose,” he said, his hands gesturing emphatically as sweat beaded on his forehead. “The East Wing mess, the late-night wars — it’s feeding a narrative of chaos. We’re in crisis mode, folks. The G.O.P. needs to rally around kitchen-table issues, not Twitter feuds, or we hand the House back to the radicals.” When a Fox News correspondent pressed whether he’d urged Mr. Trump to pause his Truth Social barrages, Mr. Johnson’s reply was terse: “I speak to the president daily. He knows the stakes.” He then pivoted abruptly, ending the session with a clipped “God bless” and retreating into the speaker’s lobby, leaving aides to fend off follow-ups.

The public freak-out reverberated through the Republican conference like a thunderclap. In a closed-door lunch meeting, Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris of Maryland lambasted Mr. Johnson as “MAGA Mike no more,” accusing him of “publicly undermining the boss when loyalty is our only lifeline.” At least 22 hard-liners, including Representatives Matt Gaetz of Florida and Lauren Boebert of Colorado, circulated a letter demanding an emergency vote on border wall funding and Epstein transparency, threatening a “motion to vacate” the speakership if ignored — a procedural guillotine that ousted Kevin McCarthy in 2023. Moderates, however, rallied to Mr. Johnson’s defense, with Representatives Don Bacon of Nebraska and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania drafting a counter-missive signed by 28 members, calling for a “strategic pause” on divisive executive actions. “Mike’s right — Trump’s support is tanking, and it’s pulling us down with him,” Mr. Bacon said in an interview, his voice laced with urgency. “We lost four seats to resignations last month; another wave, and we’re the minority before the midterms.”

Mr. Trump’s reaction from Mar-a-Lago was volcanic and immediate. In a series of posts viewed over 28 million times, he thundered: “MAGA MIKE PANICKING in PUBLIC because FAKE POLLS say my numbers are down? PATHETIC! Best economy, strongest border — RINOs like Johnson want SURRENDER! He’s LOST the base — primaries for weaklings! We’re WINNING BIGLY!” The barrage, reposting clips of Mr. Johnson’s presser with mocking emojis, drew rebukes even from allies: Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a Trump confidant, told Fox News the speaker was “speaking hard truths” and urged “family therapy” over feuds. Senator Susan Collins of Maine echoed the call for unity, warning on CNN that “internal cannibalism” could cost 25 House seats. A leaked National Republican Congressional Committee memo, obtained by The Times, painted a grim forecast: Without a 10-point Trump rebound by March, the G.O.P. risks losing the majority by 12 seats.

Democrats, sensing vulnerability, wasted no time capitalizing. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York replayed Mr. Johnson’s “catastrophe” line in a floor speech, declaring: “Even MAGA Mike sees the iceberg — Trump’s the captain steering straight into it.” The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee launched a $2 million ad blitz Tuesday afternoon, featuring the speaker’s trembling voice over images of furloughed federal workers and the rubble-strewn East Wing site, captioned: “When the GOP panics, America wins.” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York scheduled a Wednesday vote on a discharge petition for $60 billion in uncut Ukraine aid, betting it could fracture Republicans further and force a veto override spectacle.

For Mr. Johnson, plucked from relative obscurity to the speakership after 15 ballots of turmoil in January, Tuesday’s meltdown marks a nadir in a tenure defined by improbable tightrope walks. A former anti-abortion lawyer with deep ties to the religious right, he has survived by threading the needle between Mr. Trump’s bombast — mass deportations, tariff hikes, FCC threats — and the chamber’s 219-216 majority, now eroded to 215-216 by recent resignations. Allies say the strain is showing: He has skipped two church services in the past month, confiding to pastors that “the wilderness is longer than I thought.” “Mike’s a man of faith, not frenzy — but even he has limits,” said Representative Gary Palmer of Alabama, the policy chairman.

The crisis evokes echoes of past G.O.P. tempests: Newt Gingrich’s 1998 resignation amid holiday infighting, John Boehner’s 2015 abdication under tea-party fire. “Trump’s hold was always personal charisma over party infrastructure — now it’s crumbling under compound errors,” said Julian Zelizer, a Princeton political historian. On X, the platform Mr. Trump favors, #MagaMikePanic trended with 2.8 million mentions, from viral edits of the presser to moderates’ pleas for “post-Trump sanity.”

As the winter solstice nears, Mr. Johnson retreated to the speaker’s balcony for calls with Mr. Trump and donors, seeking détente. But with special elections in red districts looming and midterms nine months away, the panic isn’t rhetorical — it’s existential. In a party reborn in Mr. Trump’s fire, the alarm from MAGA Mike isn’t just a breakdown; it’s a breaking point.