NEW BERN, North Carolina — House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) isn’t buying the flurry of polls forecasting a potential blue wave in next month’s midterm elections, instead attributing the GOP’s standing to difficulty in reaching their own voters.

In a brief interview with the Washington Examiner after a campaign stop with North Carolina GOP candidate Laurie Buckhout, Johnson said low Republican participation is an issue with “polling across the board, even with our own polling.”