The Michael Knowles Show
EXCLUSIVE: Speaker Johnson on Iran War, Midterms, SAVE AMERICA Act with Michael Knowles
12 Mar 2026
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Mr. Speaker, thank you for taking the time. Thanks for being here, appreciate it. So there are 237 days till the midterms, but who's counting?
Chapter 2: What are the key challenges facing the Republicans before the midterms?
Typically, in an off year after a presidential election, especially if you win really big like we did last time, you face daunting odds. Right. The poll numbers seem to be getting worse. There seems to be a chasm between political reality on the economy, on foreign policy, and everything in between, and perception. major chasm, widening chasm. How do we fix that in 237 days?
With a big dose of reality and with a clear message and we're working on both of those things.
Chapter 3: How does Speaker Johnson view the current political landscape?
The first ingredient is to have great candidates and we recruited extraordinary people to go flip blue seats to red this cycle. And of course our incumbents and all those who have been part of the big successes of the last year and a half almost as we go into the the election cycle, are going to be out talking about their record of success. It truly is promises made and promises kept.
I've made the case that the first year of the Trump administration was arguably the most productive and successful in at least the modern era. I think one of the top five in the history of Congress, and I'm a student of all this, because of all the substance and the big things that we passed and got it signed into law. Now, there is an incredible media bias, as you know.
And the mainstream media, the legacy media, every day literally repeats almost verbatim the talking points of Chuck Schumer and the Democrats, as crazy as they are. And they try to censor and silence our viewpoint in various ways, as you know. And so we've got to break through that and get the reality to the people. So it will be a lot of direct candidate-to-constituent discussion.
They're going to be doing the candidate forums and the town halls and all that. to go out and share our message. We gathered here at this work session. This conference over the last couple of days was to talk about how to do that effectively. So look, I'm very bullish about the midterms. I'm absolutely convinced we are going to win the midterms and grow the majority.
It will defy the historic trend. It's only twice in the last 90 years that a sitting president has picked up seats for his party in that first two-year cycle. But I can give you a very boring 90-minute slideshow. for all the reasons we're going to win. But it boils down to a record of success, great candidates.
We have a fundraising advantage right now because the stakes are so high, Republicans over Democrats, first time in 10 years. Democrats are at historic lows in approval rating. They have no leadership, no message, no vision for where they're going. Their whole platform is they hate Donald Trump. Well, good luck with that. That's not exactly something to sell to constituents.
And then we're going into a cycle where the president of the United States, the first midterm in history, where a second-term president who can't be on the ballot again is running like he's on the ballot himself.
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Chapter 4: What strategies are being implemented to win the midterms?
It's going to make a big difference, big turnout difference for us. I think in the end, as the economy continues to improve, all of our policies go into effect, I think people are going to feel better about that right about the time they go in to vote. Well, the good news I saw on the polls on the economy is that voters don't trust the Democrats on it. Of course.
But the bad news I saw is they don't trust the Republicans either. And some of the numbers have moved in a negative direction from January to today. Now, I wonder how much of that has to do with the recent diversion into Iran. Oil jumping one hour, it's $115 a barrel. Next hour, it's $85 a barrel. How significant will the Iran war be, looking at the midterms? It will be wrapped up soon.
And, you know, I talk to the president multiple times a day, and he says the same thing privately that he's saying publicly. This is a very limited scope of mission and objective. We have virtually accomplished the mission entirely, incredibly quickly. That was by design just as calibrated as is the improvements in the economy.
Scott Besson, Treasury Secretary, said a few weeks ago, he said 2025 was sort of like setting the table and the feast and the banquet in the economy is going to be in 2026. The big beautiful bill, the working families tax cut of our legislation was done and signed into law by last summer. Remember, triumphantly, we did it on July 4th with B-2s flying over the White House.
That was by design because we knew that it had to all be implemented and take effect as we went into the midterm cycle to get relief to the people as soon as possible. That is exactly what's going to happen. Right now, people are getting bigger refunds for their taxes because we changed the tax code and the law in their favor. They're getting bigger paychecks, and that will continue.
So the little blip on the screen right now with Iran and oil prices will be very temporary and quick. I mean, this morning, Doug Burgum, Interior Secretary, is out explaining what will happen quickly to oil prices. It's all about supply and demand.
And long term, we're going to be much better off with some stability in Iran instead of an avowed enemy of the United States and Israel trying to develop nuclear weapons to wipe us off the face of the earth. This is going to be a good thing. So this will be a blip. People will have short memories.
And when their cost of living goes down, which is what we're fiercely devoted to, we have done and we'll continue to do that this year, they're going to be feeling much better about this, and it's going to be reflected in the outcome of the election. You don't need to persuade me that the potential upside in Iran is very serious. I mean, from the perspective of grand strategy,
I totally get it, and I don't think any other podcasters are saying that because they're all opposed to it. And this is one of my fears looking ahead to the midterms is the war is unpopular. It seems to be especially unpopular with the right-wing podcasters, with the influencers, I don't know, with the new media. And yet one can see all of that potential upside.
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Chapter 5: How significant is the Iran war in the context of U.S. politics?
And we have the people that can do that, the people that serve in the House, battered as we are by fake news by the left and misinformation sometimes on our side, well-intended folks, that there's always more nuance to it. There's always factors behind this. And what I would say to our allies and friends in the conservative movement is, now is the time for us to stick together.
And if you have questions or something seems awry or there's a big conspiracy theory brewing, there's usually some more facts behind that. And if you would just take the time, take a pause, contact us, let us know. We'll give you all the information. And if we're off, I'm open to course correction every day. But it's been said and written, and I think it's true. I know it's true.
I'm the most conservative person that has ever held a gavel. I'm a movement conservative, literally came up through the movement. I was the attorney for most of the conservative groups that are leading in the policy arena and everything else. religious liberty, sanctity of life, all that. I was that guy. And so that's my worldview. That's what I bring to the table.
And my objective every day is to move the ship of state to the furthest point we can on the conservative spectrum and to get public policy right. We have a president who's fiercely devoted to fixing America and making America great again. We have. America's back. But it will only stay on that trajectory if we all stick together. If you're going to fire, don't do it inside our tent.
There's plenty of folks on the other side politically who can take that ammo. I agree with that message entirely, Mr. Speaker. I just wish that other members of the party and the movement would see things the same way. In any case, you have much more to do, speaking of all that herding cats. I appreciate you taking the time. Thanks a lot, brother. Great to see you.
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