Claim:
Adult film star Stormy Daniels admitted to having a “business relationship” with U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson.
Rating:
On Nov. 11, 2023, an X post claimed that adult film star Stormy Daniels had admitted to having a “business relationship” with U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson. We found that this claim originated as satire.
The claim spread as the deadline to keep the U.S. government open beyond Nov. 17, 2023, approached. At the time of this writing, the House of Representatives was expected to vote on a stopgap spending bill proposed by Johnson that would fund the government beyond that date.
“BREAKING FOX NEWS: Stormy Daniels admits to having a business relationship with Speaker Mike Johnson,” the X account posted. “This is a developing story.” At the time of this writing, the post had over 1 million views.
BREAKING FOX NEWS: Stormy Daniels admits to having a business relationship with Speaker Mike Johnson. This is a developing story. pic.twitter.com/kOQITl98lP
— Staff Sergeant Johnson (@PatMaguire10) November 12, 2023
We found posts on other social media platforms that included the X post, including TikTok and Facebook.
However, the X post was not a factual recounting of real-life events. At the time of this writing, the X account’s bio said it was a “raw and unfiltered parody account.”
In addition, we found no real Fox News article about the claim. If what the X post said was true, credible news publications would have reported what Daniels had said. That had not happened at the time of this writing.
We’ve previously fact-checked other claims about Johnson, including whether he had said that “women have a duty to birth at least one able-bodied worker.” We also fact-checked a quote that claimed Johnson’s opposition to gay marriage was due to its being “such a fun lifestyle.” We rated both claims as False.
Sources:
Fox, Lauren et al. “Speaker Mike Johnson Enters into His Big Shutdown Test.” CNN, 13 Nov. 2023, https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/13/politics/government-shutdown-latest-johnson/index.html.
Kasprak, Alex. “Did Speaker Mike Johnson Say He Did ‘Extensive Studies of Homosexual Relationships’ in College?” Snopes, 7 Nov. 2023, https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/johnson-studies-homosexual-relationships/.
—. “Did Speaker Mike Johnson Say Women Have a ‘Duty To Birth at Least One Able-Bodied Worker’?” Snopes, 7 Nov. 2023, https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/mike-johnson-duty-to-birth/.
Morgan, David, and Richard Cowan. “US House Speaker Johnson Looks to Democrats to Avert Gov’t Shutdown.” Reuters, 14 Nov. 2023. www.reuters.com,
