Mike Johnson Hasn't Been Spared From Plastic Surgery Rumors
There's a reason House Speaker Mike Johnson is practically unrecognizable in a bearded throwback picture with his wife, and that reason is not natural aging. At least, that's what internet scuttlebutt is suggesting.
In a November 2025 skit from The Daily Show, the speaker was accused of resorting to plastic surgery to tune up his appearance. Comedian Desi Lydic noted that Johnson "is looking glowed up from the throat up," referencing a snapshot of the Republican sporting baby-like cheeks in a March 2025 Fox News interview. Lydic pointed out that Johnson's lack of frown lines on his forehead is likely due to Botox injections and suggested that his chubby cheeks are the result of some swelling after getting fillers. Comedians aren't the only ones who have noticed Johnson's more youthful appearance. Side-by-side pictures of Johnson show just how much he's changed, and netizens have taken it upon themselves to point this out on social media. After his Fox News appearance, one X user noted, "He got the mar a lago glow up." Added another, "Did he get Botox?"
It is ironic that Johnson appears to be trying to fit the Donald Trump mold, given that he used to be an outspoken critic of the president. In 2015, as the former "Apprentice" host geared up for his 2016 presidential run, Johnson issued a stark warning in a seemingly since-deleted Facebook post. "The thing about Donald Trump is that he lacks the character and the moral center we desperately need again in the White House," he penned, per The New York Times. "I am afraid he would break more things than he fixes. He is a hot head by nature, and that is a dangerous trait to have in a Commander in Chief."
Mike Johnson seems to be following in the footsteps of Matt Gaetz
It is very possible that Mike Johnson and former Congressman Matt Gaetz are tight behind the scenes — and perhaps Gaetz even inspired Johnson to take the plastic surgery leap. Those who have been keeping up with current affairs will be well aware that Johnson tried to keep the House Ethics Committee's report on the would-be attorney general's alleged indiscretions private. He lost the battle, and the report was made public anyway about a month after Gaetz had left Congress and recused himself from consideration for the position in Donald Trump's cabinet. Aside from the unflattering things that were revealed about the congressman's alleged conduct in the report, rumors have also been swirling that he's resorted to plastic surgery to fit into Trump's inner circle.
There are several photographs of Gaetz that make plastic surgery rumors hard to deny. Some of those pictures can be traced back to the 2024 Republican National Convention (like the snapshot above), where Gaetz's facial skin appeared to have come face-to-face with an iron. There wasn't a wrinkle in sight, his eyebrows appeared too afraid to move, and his facial expression seemed to be frozen in a permanent scowl. Board-certified dermatologist Corey L. Hartman, M.D., all but told Esquire that Gaetz should fire his plastic surgeon, noting that the former congressman was likely suffering from an "overly heavy hand and poor placement [of injectables]," clarifying, "It's too heavy in the forehead and not lateral enough to prevent Spock Eye." Indeed, Gaetz looked a little ... alien. Here's hoping he and Johnson don't share a plastic surgeon.