U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson has accused Iran of being fundamentally untrustworthy, claiming that negotiations have stalled because Iranian officials say one thing at the negotiating table and then do the opposite.
But Johnson went further, stating:
“For some of them, it’s apparently part of their religion that they can just lie to someone they disagree with.”
A striking claim coming from a politician whose own religious worldview has repeatedly drawn controversy.
Here are some of Johnson’s publicly reported views:
He has described himself as guided by a literal reading of the Bible and has publicly stated:
“Go pick up a Bible, that’s my worldview.”
He has expressed support for a young-Earth creationist interpretation, placing the Earth’s age at roughly 6,000 years—contrary to the scientific consensus.
Before entering Congress, he served as legal counsel for Answers in Genesis, the organization behind the Ark Encounter theme park, which promotes a literal interpretation of the biblical account of Noah’s Ark.
He has previously described
Shiite Islam as a “misguided religion”
and linked it to hostility toward the United States and Israel.
The irony is difficult to miss: Johnson invokes religion to explain what he portrays as Iranian dishonesty, while simultaneously advocating a deeply literalist religious worldview of his own.
The question is therefore not simply what faith someone follows—but whether a politician should be using an entire religious tradition as a justification for distrusting millions of people and dismissing diplomacy.