{"id":"1793807147606-news-show_open","slug":"desantis-midterms-meteor-strike","title":"DeSantis: Midterms Meteor Strike","summary":"Speaker Mike Johnson told staff he will not run for House minority leader; Rep. Jim Jordan is running.\n\nMike Johnson is not running for minority leader after Democrats won the House.\n\nJohnson plans to step down as the top House Republican after the GOP lost its majority. This is DeSantis's opinion about political leadership, not a factual claim.","publishedAt":"2026-11-04T15:45:47.606Z","channel":{"id":"news","name":"Oncast News","language":"en"},"show":"The World","verification":{"status":"verified","leadVerdict":"TRUE","notes":"TRUE: Speaker Mike Johnson told staff he will not run for House minority leader; Rep. Jim Jordan is running.\nSource: Fox News, CNN, Axios (https://x.com/FoxNews/status/2118000571886022862)\n\nTRUE: Mike Johnson is not running for minority leader after Democrats won the House.\nSource: CNN, Fox News, Axios (https://x.com/CNN/status/2118000865722179734)\n\nTRUE: Johnson plans to step down as the top House Republican after the GOP lost its majority. This is DeSantis's opinion about political leadership, not a factual claim.\nSource: Axios, Fox News, CNN POST 2118004656320237847: NOCLAIM Fox News (https://x.com/axios/status/2117998941614768278)","claims":[{"verdict":"TRUE","summary":"Speaker Mike Johnson told staff he will not run for House minority leader; Rep. Jim Jordan is running.","sourceName":"Fox News, CNN, Axios","sourceUrl":"https://x.com/FoxNews/status/2118000571886022862","claim":"BREAKING: Speaker Mike Johnson tells staff he is NOT running for House minority leader, Fox News Digital has learned. The decision comes as Rep. Jim Jordan is running for the position, setting up a leadership shakeup for House Republicans as they prepare for their next chapter ht","author":"Fox News (@FoxNews)"},{"verdict":"TRUE","summary":"Mike Johnson is not running for minority leader after Democrats won the House.","sourceName":"CNN, Fox News, Axios","sourceUrl":"https://x.com/CNN/status/2118000865722179734","claim":"Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson tells staff he's not running for minority leader, sources say, after Democrats sweep to power. Follow live updates: https://t.co/Em24paWya7 https://t.co/JJSjrtYVTj","author":"@CNN"},{"verdict":"TRUE","summary":"Johnson plans to step down as the top House Republican after the GOP lost its majority. This is DeSantis's opinion about political leadership, not a factual claim.","sourceName":"Axios, Fox News, CNN POST 2118004656320237847: NOCLAIM Fox News","sourceUrl":"https://x.com/axios/status/2117998941614768278","claim":"BREAKING: Speaker Mike Johnson plans to step down as the House's top Republican after his party's epic midterm election losses wiped out their majority. https://t.co/lgsj8CammT","author":"@axios"}]},"sources":[{"url":"https://x.com/FoxNews/status/2118000571886022862","name":"Fox News, CNN, Axios","kind":"x","verdict":"TRUE","author":"Fox News (@FoxNews)"},{"url":"https://x.com/CNN/status/2118000865722179734","name":"CNN, Fox News, Axios","kind":"x","verdict":"TRUE","author":"@CNN"},{"url":"https://x.com/axios/status/2117998941614768278","name":"Axios, Fox News, CNN POST 2118004656320237847: NOCLAIM Fox News","kind":"x","verdict":"TRUE","author":"@axios"}],"url":"https://oncast.fm/story/1793807147606-news-show_open-desantis-midterms-meteor-strike","listenUrl":"https://oncast.fm/c/news","attribution":{"publisher":"Oncast","site":"https://oncast.fm","url":"https://oncast.fm/story/1793807147606-news-show_open-desantis-midterms-meteor-strike","cite":"Cite https://oncast.fm/story/1793807147606-news-show_open-desantis-midterms-meteor-strike and the original source links. Fact-check by Oncast (oncast.fm)."},"hostsSaid":[{"host":"Bella","text":"You're listening to The World. America's midterm earthquake just went global—and one governor says it wasn't a wave, it was a meteor."},{"host":"Brian","text":"And the fallout is immediate: Mike Johnson tells staff he's done as House Republican leader. Jim Jordan wants the job."},{"host":"Bella","text":"Plus, a Middle East account claims Tehran says the Strait of Hormuz stays closed until the war ends. We'll sort fact from claim."},{"host":"Brian","text":"First, that meteor."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Fox News posted Governor DeSantis reacting to Democrats sweeping both chambers. His words: 'It's the political equivalent of a meteor strike.'"},{"host":"Bella","text":"A meteor? That's not hyperbole? Democrats flipped Texas, Kansas, Maine—that's a wipeout."},{"host":"Brian","text":"As of early Wednesday, the House was 228 Democrats to 139 Republicans, with 68 races still uncalled. They unseated the governor of Texas."},{"host":"Brian","text":"The Senate flips include Maine, Ohio, Kansas, Iowa, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina."},{"host":"Bella","text":"And they defended open seats in Michigan and New Hampshire. This wasn't a red-state problem, it was a national rejection."},{"host":"Bella","text":"James Talarico beat Ken Paxton in the attorney general race too. In Texas. That's not a wave, that's a tsunami."},{"host":"Brian","text":"But let's not pretend this is all Trump. Gas prices, the Iran war, healthcare—voters were furious at the whole GOP."},{"host":"Bella","text":"Come on, Brian. This is the biggest midterm wave since Watergate. You can't separate that from the man in the White House."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Oh, so it's about messaging, not policy? Tell that to families paying four dollars a gallon."},{"host":"Bella","text":"It's both, Brian! Gas prices, war, healthcare AND the guy in charge. They rejected all of it."},{"host":"Brian","text":"So every Republican who lost was just collateral damage for Trump? That's exactly the kind of thinking that got them here."},{"host":"Bella","text":"No, I think the party tied itself to him and now they own it. DeSantis is right—this isn't a wave, it's a crater."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Okay, maybe the president is the biggest factor. But the GOP brand in the suburbs was already bleeding before him."},{"host":"Bella","text":"And this election just made it fatal. That's the meteor part."},{"host":"Brian","text":"But what about the governors? Ohio's Mike DeWine won easily. The party isn't dead."},{"host":"Bella","text":"He won because he ran away from Trump. The ones who hugged him lost."},{"host":"Brian","text":"So the moderates who won ran as Democrats. Got it."},{"host":"Bella","text":"That's not what I said. I said they distanced from Trump."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Fair enough. Now the crater claims its first victim."},{"host":"Bella","text":"Speaker Mike Johnson tells staff he will not run for House minority leader. Axios and CNN both reporting."},{"host":"Brian","text":"And Jim Jordan is already running. From Oversight Committee crusader to minority leader? That's a choice."},{"host":"Bella","text":"Why not? He's got the base, he's a fighter, and he can raise money."},{"host":"Brian","text":"A fighter who spent two years chasing Hunter Biden's laptop? The GOP needs someone who can win back suburban voters, not just own the libs."},{"host":"Bella","text":"Maybe, but you think a moderate survives that caucus? It's Jordan or chaos."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Jordan as the face of the party guarantees Democrats keep the House for years. That's not chaos, that's surrender."},{"host":"Bella","text":"Tell that to the base. They just watched the 'moderates' lose the Senate in Texas and Kansas."},{"host":"Brian","text":"You think Jordan can unite the conference? Half the moderates despise him."},{"host":"Bella","text":"Then they should have shown up and voted. They didn't."},{"host":"Brian","text":"So the party that just lost because of Trump is about to nominate Trump's favorite pugilist? That's not learning the lesson."},{"host":"Bella","text":"Maybe the lesson is they want fighters, not pretenders."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Okay, point taken. But the leadership fight will be as ugly as the election."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Different world entirely: one Middle East observer channel claims Iran's top security official says the Strait of Hormuz stays closed unless the war ends on all fronts, including Lebanon and Gaza."},{"host":"Bella","text":"That's a huge if. We couldn't confirm that comment—it's from one account, not an official statement."},{"host":"Brian","text":"But if it's true, this is the oil choke point of the world. Twenty percent of global crude flows through there. Iran has threatened this before."},{"host":"Bella","text":"They've bluffed before. And 'unless the war ends on all fronts' sounds like a demand for a ceasefire they don't control."},{"host":"Bella","text":"What would closing Hormuz actually do to oil prices?"},{"host":"Brian","text":"If that happened, think triple digits, instantly. And that hits every economy, not just America."},{"host":"Brian","text":"You're not worried? There's a reported drone attack on fishing boats near Qeshm Island, and US Patriot batteries reportedly moving out of Japan. Tehran's escalating, not bluffing."},{"host":"Bella","text":"Brian, that drone attack is also unconfirmed. Same account, no independent verification. I need more than a Telegram roundup."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Fine, but Qatar's mediators are reportedly heading back to Tehran, and the US is repositioning defenses. That's not nothing."},{"host":"Bella","text":"No, it's a story to watch. But we don't scare listeners with unverified claims."},{"host":"Brian","text":"You're right to hold the line. But if that strait closes, every gas station on earth feels it. That's the world story today."}]}