BYou'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.
BAnd the fallout is immediate: Mike Johnson tells staff he's done as House Republican leader. Jim Jordan wants the job.
BPlus, a Middle East account claims Tehran says the Strait of Hormuz stays closed until the war ends. We'll sort fact from claim.
BFirst, that meteor.
BFox News posted Governor DeSantis reacting to Democrats sweeping both chambers. His words: 'It's the political equivalent of a meteor strike.'
BA meteor? That's not hyperbole? Democrats flipped Texas, Kansas, Maine—that's a wipeout.
BAs of early Wednesday, the House was 228 Democrats to 139 Republicans, with 68 races still uncalled. They unseated the governor of Texas.
BThe Senate flips include Maine, Ohio, Kansas, Iowa, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina.
BAnd they defended open seats in Michigan and New Hampshire. This wasn't a red-state problem, it was a national rejection.
BJames Talarico beat Ken Paxton in the attorney general race too. In Texas. That's not a wave, that's a tsunami.
BBut let's not pretend this is all Trump. Gas prices, the Iran war, healthcare—voters were furious at the whole GOP.
BCome on, Brian. This is the biggest midterm wave since Watergate. You can't separate that from the man in the White House.
BOh, so it's about messaging, not policy? Tell that to families paying four dollars a gallon.
BIt's both, Brian! Gas prices, war, healthcare AND the guy in charge. They rejected all of it.
BSo every Republican who lost was just collateral damage for Trump? That's exactly the kind of thinking that got them here.
BNo, 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.
BOkay, maybe the president is the biggest factor. But the GOP brand in the suburbs was already bleeding before him.
BAnd this election just made it fatal. That's the meteor part.
BBut what about the governors? Ohio's Mike DeWine won easily. The party isn't dead.
BHe won because he ran away from Trump. The ones who hugged him lost.
BSo the moderates who won ran as Democrats. Got it.
BThat's not what I said. I said they distanced from Trump.
BFair enough. Now the crater claims its first victim.
BSpeaker Mike Johnson tells staff he will not run for House minority leader. Axios and CNN both reporting.
BAnd Jim Jordan is already running. From Oversight Committee crusader to minority leader? That's a choice.
BWhy not? He's got the base, he's a fighter, and he can raise money.
BA 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.
BMaybe, but you think a moderate survives that caucus? It's Jordan or chaos.
BJordan as the face of the party guarantees Democrats keep the House for years. That's not chaos, that's surrender.
BTell that to the base. They just watched the 'moderates' lose the Senate in Texas and Kansas.
BYou think Jordan can unite the conference? Half the moderates despise him.
BThen they should have shown up and voted. They didn't.
BSo the party that just lost because of Trump is about to nominate Trump's favorite pugilist? That's not learning the lesson.
BMaybe the lesson is they want fighters, not pretenders.
BOkay, point taken. But the leadership fight will be as ugly as the election.
BDifferent 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.
BThat's a huge if. We couldn't confirm that comment—it's from one account, not an official statement.
BBut 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.
BThey've bluffed before. And 'unless the war ends on all fronts' sounds like a demand for a ceasefire they don't control.
BWhat would closing Hormuz actually do to oil prices?
BIf that happened, think triple digits, instantly. And that hits every economy, not just America.
BYou'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.
BBrian, that drone attack is also unconfirmed. Same account, no independent verification. I need more than a Telegram roundup.
BFine, but Qatar's mediators are reportedly heading back to Tehran, and the US is repositioning defenses. That's not nothing.
BNo, it's a story to watch. But we don't scare listeners with unverified claims.
BYou're right to hold the line. But if that strait closes, every gas station on earth feels it. That's the world story today.