Speaker Mike Johnson didn't call to repeal 1st Amendment, seriously

A rumor that U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson called to repeal the First Amendment from the Constitution is circulating online. Johnson allegedly made the call to do away with the amendment, which covers rights including freedom of speech and assembly, during the lead-up to the Oct. 18, 2025, "No Kings" rallies across the country in protest of President Donald Trump and his administration. For example, one Facebook page posted the claim on Oct. 17 (archived): 

WASHINGTON—In a blistering comment on Friday, House Speaker Mike Johnson accused participants in Saturday's No Kings protests of "blatantly exercising their First Amendment rights."

"When the framers of the Constitution wrote the First Amendment, they did not intend people to take it literally," Johnson said. "And yet, that is precisely what the far-left lunatics and Antifa members are conspiring to do."

Johnson said that he and his fellow Republicans would push for a repeal of the First Amendment to "prevent it from being exploited by evildoers in the future."

"We'd be so much better off without the First Amendment," he said. "The Second Amendment would move up to No. 1, which is where it belongs."

Some readers seemed to interpret the rumor as a factual recounting of real-life events. Snopes readers searched the site seeking to confirm whether the rumor was true.

However, while Johnson blasted the Washington, D.C., "No Kings" rally as the "Hate America" rally at a news conference, there was no evidence he'd called to repeal the First Amendment.

Rather, the rumor that he'd called to remove this amendment from the Bill of Rights originated with The Borowitz Report — a website that describes its output as being humorous or satirical in nature. Borowitz's bio page on Facebook reads "comedian." The Borowitz Report's About page states that Borowitz, its author, has made a career of writing satire, reading in part, "I've been writing satirical news since I was eighteen."

Snopes has addressed similar satirical claims by Borowitz in the past, including the assertion that federal judge had dismissed charges against former FBI Director James Comey because his name was misspelled and a rumor that Liberian President Joseph Boakai offered to teach Trump English.

For background, here is why we alert readers to rumors created by sources that call their output humorous or satirical.