Republicans shouted down a reporter and told her 'shut up' for asking their potential next House speaker about his efforts to overturn the 2020 election

• A reporter was shouted down for trying to ask the next potential speaker of the House a question.
• An ABC News reporter tried to ask GOP Rep. Mike Johnson about his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
• Another House Republican told the reporter to "shut up" as other lawmakers booed.

Multiple House Republicans on Tuesday evening shouted down a Capitol Hill reporter after she asked Rep. Mike Johnson, the party's nominee to become speaker of the House, about his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

"No, shut up, shut up," Rep. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina yelled, part of a chorus that cut off ABC News reporter Rachel Scott as she tried to question Johnson. Foxx chairs the House Education and Workforce Committee. 

Johnson, who was smirking and shaking his head during the question, simply said, "Next question."

Scott was trying to ask Johnson about his central role in organizing House Republicans to sign an amicus brief backing Texas' unprecedented suit to overturn the election results in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Georgia based on then-disproven claims of voter fraud and pandemic-related changes to election procedures. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's legal challenge would have allowed state legislatures to potentially change their state's results and throw the election to then-President Donald Trump. 

Johnson, who drew on his experience in constitutional law, argued that some states had violated the Constitution by making pandemic-related changes to absentee balloting policies without consulting their legislatures, The New York Times previously reported. In the end, 125 House Republicans, including then-House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, signed on to the Supreme Court brief.

The Supreme Court refused to hear Texas' case. Undeterred, Johnson returned to these arguments as support for why House Republicans should reject the certification of some state's results when Congress met to formally count the Electoral College votes on January 6, 2021. While House Republicans failed to overturn the results, 139 lawmakers voted to uphold challenges to at least one state. Johnson voted to object to certifying both Arizona and Pennsylvania's results.

While a majority of House Republicans voted to object to both states, there were some notable exceptions. One of those was, Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota did not. Emmer, who was then the leader of House Republicans campaign arm, was briefly the GOP's nominee to become speaker of the House on Tuesday. Emmer withdrew just hours after winning the nomination. On Tuesday evening, Johnson took his place.