Can Trump really save the midterms for the Republicans?
Americast
BBC
4.3 • 3.1K Ratings
🗓️ 30 January 2026
⏱️ 35 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Can Republicans win the midterm elections and keep control of both houses of Congress? It’s the biggest political event of the year, and this week Donald Trump kicked off the Republican’s campaign in Iowa, telling voters the odds are against him, but Republicans “need to win”. The president’s chief of staff says this is just the start, and Trump will be campaigning for the midterms as if it were a presidential race because he’s good at driving voter turnout. In this episode, Sarah and Anthony discuss why the midterm elections matter, what the stakes are, and Republican chances of winning. They’re joined by a former campaign adviser to Donald Trump, Bryan Lanza, who sets out why ICE immigration protests and worries over the economy shouldn’t stop a Republican victory. We also hear from Mary in Kentucky as we build our own “United States of Americast”, finding Americasters in every US state. Listen out for what you might not already know about Kentucky…
HOSTS: • Sarah Smith, North America Editor • Anthony Zurcher, North America Correspondent
GUESTS: • Bryan Lanza, Former senior advisor to Donald Trump
GET IN TOUCH: • Join our online community: https://discord.gg/qSrxqNcmRB • Send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp to +44 330 123 9480 • Email Americast@bbc.co.uk • Or use #Americast
This episode was made by Purvee Pattni, Grace Reeve and Kris Jalowiecki. The technical producer was Jack Graysmark. The series producer is Purvee Pattni. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.
If you want to be notified every time we publish a new episode, please subscribe to us on BBC Sounds by hitting the subscribe button on the app.
You can now listen to Americast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Americast”. It works on most smart speakers.
US Election Unspun: Sign up for Anthony’s BBC newsletter: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68093155
Americast is part of the BBC News Podcasts family of podcasts. The team that makes Americast also makes lots of other podcasts, including Newscast and Ukrainecast. If you enjoy Americast (and if you're reading this then you hopefully do), then we think that you will enjoy some of our other pods too. See links below.
Newscast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/series/p05299nl Ukrainecast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p0bqztzm Radical: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p0gg4k6r The Global Story: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/w13xtvsd
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:05.6 | I love Iowa, but I'm here because we're starting the campaign to win the midterm. |
| 0:09.4 | We've got to win the midterm. |
| 0:12.1 | That means Senate and it means House. |
| 0:17.1 | Got to win them. |
| 0:18.5 | That's what Donald Trump's going to be saying for nine months |
| 0:22.0 | in advance of the big political event of 2026, |
| 0:25.5 | the midterm elections coming in November. |
| 0:28.5 | Can Republicans possibly hold on to the House and the Senate? |
| 0:31.7 | What will it mean for Donald Trump's presidency if they don't? |
| 0:35.1 | Welcome to AmeriCast. |
| 0:38.5 | AmeriCast. AmeriCast. |
| 0:39.5 | AmeriCast from BBC News. |
| 0:41.8 | When Donald Trump calls, they say, yes, sir. Right away, sir. Happy to lick your boot, sir. |
| 0:47.1 | We are the sickest country in the world. |
| 0:49.6 | Oh, dear. Are you worried that billionaires are going to go hungry? |
| 0:53.2 | Of course the president supports peaceful protest. |
| 0:55.2 | What a stupid question. |
| 0:56.2 | Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein? |
| 1:05.3 | Hello, it's Sarah in the BBC's Bureau in Washington. |
| 1:08.1 | And it's Anthony right here next to Sarah in Washington, D.C. |
| 1:11.4 | Now, right now, November seems quite a long way off, but it's going to come barreling at us very, |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.