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The Megyn Kelly Show
DNC '24 Autopsy Drops, AI Exec Order Postponed, US-Bound Flight Diverted Over Ebola Concerns: AM Update 5/22
00:18:15
The DNC releases its long-awaited 2024 election autopsy, faulting Democrats for major messaging failures around affordability, identity politics, and defining Kamala Harris, while avoiding some of the biggest questions surrounding Biden, Gaza, and Harris’s path to the nomination. President Trump abruptly postpones a White House AI executive order signing ceremony, saying he feared the proposal could slow America’s lead over China, as reports suggest both the substance of the order and the last-minute guest list caused friction. President Trump’s late endorsement of Ken Paxton shakes up the Texas Senate runoff, fueling Republican fears that Paxton’s baggage could put a once-safe GOP seat in play for Democrat James Talarico. A Detroit-bound Air France flight is diverted to Canada after officials say a passenger from Ebola-impacted Congo was mistakenly allowed to board despite new US travel restrictions, though health experts say the risk to Americans remains extremely low. Birch Gol...
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Good morning everyone. I'm Emily Jasinsky, host of Afterparty and the Megyn Kelly Wrap up show on SiriusXM channel 111. It's Friday, May 22, 2026 and this is your AM update. The DNC releases its long awaited autopsy of the 2024 election pointing to major Democratic messaging failures while dodging some of the campaign's biggest questions.
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I think it gets in the way of, you know, we're leading China, we're leading everybo, and I don't want to do anything that's going to get in the way of that lead.
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A planned White House AI signing ceremony abruptly called off after President Trump says he feared the proposal could slow America's lead over China.
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No wonder Republican senators are running scared, especially after that Trump endorsement of Paxton. Texas is absolutely in play.
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A last minute Trump endorsement shakes up the Senate race in Texas as Republicans fear Ken Paxton could put a once safe seat in danger. And a U S bound flight diverted before reaching Detroit after officials say a passenger from Ebola impacted Congo should never have been allowed to board. All that and more coming up in just a moment on your AM update.
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The DNC finally releasing its long awaited autopsy report. Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin ordering the review shortly after becoming chair in February of last year, promising to make the findings public in December, Martin abruptly deciding to keep the report private, fueling backlash inside the party. By mid April, more than a dozen DNC members calling on him to release the findings while warning that he does not believe the document is ready for public consumption. Martin telling the outlet the report does not meet my standards and it won't meet your standards. But I am doing this because people need to be able to trust the Democratic Party and trust our word. Acknowledging his refusal to release it had become a distraction. While apologizing for it, CNN reviewing the document concluding it does contain some factual inaccuracies and is, quote, sometimes hard to follow. Martin also distancing himself from the report with a disclaimer at the top stating the findings do not reflect the views of the dnc but rather the report's author, Democratic consultant Paul Rivera. Adding to the unusual rollout, the report also including red annotations from DNC officials pushing back on portions of the review, those notes flagging alleged errors and at times undercutting the findings within the nearly 200 page document. The report faulting the Harris campaign for not reminding voters why they disliked President Trump's first term. According to the autopsy, it was essential to prosecute a more effective case as to why Trump should have been disqualified and from ever again taking office. The report finding the evidence was there, but the messaging never made the case. Instead, the review concludes the Harris campaign appeared to rely on Trump being unacceptable rather than building an affirmative argument for Vice President Harris herself. The report specifically pointing to Harris struggle to define herself beyond being not Trump and beyond the campaign's prosecutor versus felon framing like in this speech.
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As a prosecutor I specialized in cases involving sexual abuse. Well, Trump was found liable for committing sexual abuse. As Attorney General of California, I took on the big Wall street banks and held them accountable for fraud. Donald Trump was just found guilty of fraud on 34 counts.
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The report also singling out one of the Trump campaign's most memorable attack ads.
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Kamala is for they them. President Trump is for you.
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According to the autopsy, the ad created a political problem Team Harris never solved and that the campaign's pollsters all recognized as very effective. It continued, if the vice president would not change her position and she did not, then there was nothing which would have worked as a response. The autopsy repeatedly criticizing the party's reliance on identity politics, arguing Democrats need to move away from demographic appeals and focus more directly on affordability, cost of living and middle class concerns. The report pointing to candidates like US Senator from Arizona Ruben Gallego and US Senator from Nevada Jackie Rosen saying their year round presence, economic messaging and addressing cost of living concerns resonate more than identity politics. And when it comes to winning back male voters, the report is blunt, urging Democrats to use mail messengers and warning them not to assume identity politics will hold male voters of color. The report also arguing the GOP's 2024 win came down in part to learning more from President Obama's winning playbook than Democrats did. The GOP's campaign was powered by data and amplified by social media and enabled by ardent supporters at every level. The report avoiding some of the largest questions surrounding the Harris campaign. It does not evaluate President Biden's decision to run again, the fallout from the war in Gaza inside the Democratic Coalition or Vice President Harris effectively being anointed as the nominee without anything resembling a competitive replacement process. President Trump yesterday abruptly postponing a White House signing ceremony for a new AI executive executive order after inviting some of the biggest names in tech to attend, according to the Washington Post. The draft order would have created a new voluntary government review process for powerful AI systems before they are released to the public. The goal, according to the Post, was to give the feds time to test advanced new AI tools for dangerous capabilities, search for vulnerabilities and prepare defenses before hackers or foreign adversaries could exploit them. The New York Times reporting the push for a formal oversight process grew out of concerns inside the administration that AI could become too powerful and eventually pose a national security risk to the United States. However, White House officials and tech companies raising concerns about slowing down the rollout of new technology. President Trump addressing the delay yesterday from the Oval Office during an unrelated event
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because I didn't like certain aspects of it, I postponed it. I think it gets in the way of, you know, we're leading China, we're leading everybody and I don't want to do anything that's going to get in the way of that lead. We have a very substantial and AI, it's causing, it's causing tremendous good and it's also bringing in a lot of jobs, tremendous numbers of jobs. Again, we have more people working right now than we've ever had. I really thought that could have been a blocker and I want to make sure that it's not.
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Some of the biggest tech titans in America reportedly invited Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Apple CEO Tim Cook, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and more. The substance of the order may not have been the only issue. According to the New York Times, several top executives were invited just 24 hours before the scheduled signing, leaving little time for many of them to make travel plans, the Times reporting. AI companies were told President Trump was unhappy that many of the invited CEOs could not make it, with some companies instead sending other executives to the White House in their place. The White House has not said when the signing could be rescheduled, and it remains unclear whether the text of the order will change before then. Coming up, President Trump's endorsement of Ken Paxton could turn a brutal Texas GOP runoff into a general election headache, with Democrats now seeing their best opening in decades and a Detroit bound Air France flight is forced to divert to Canada after a passenger from Ebola impacted Congo is mistakenly allowed to board.
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Democrats, long eyeing Texas as a potential US Senate pickup opportunity, now seeing new polling indicating the Lone Star state may be in play. President Trump endorsing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton earlier this week in the Republican Senate runoff, siding with the MAGA aligned challenger over incumbent Senator John Cornyn. The endorsement coming late in the race, one day after early voting began and just one week before Election Day, after months of Senate Republicans urging President Trump to back Senator Cornyn Paxton entering the race with major political baggage, including ethical scandals and a messy divorce. The winner of next week's runoff will face Democrat James Tallarico, a state representative from Austin, in the November general election. No new public polling is available since President Trump's endorsement, though Paxton's odds of securing the nomination surging to 95%. On Polymarket, a late April to early May poll from the University of Houston Hobby School of Public affairs finding Paxton at 48%, holding a three point lead over Cornyn at 45%. But both Republicans may be facing a bigger challenge in the general election. CNN's chief data analyst Harry Entin breaks it down.
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James Talarico could very well win in Texas. And I want to use a comparison point with 2018 because there was all this talk about Beto O', Rourke, right? Oh, could he beat Ted Cruz? He could beat Ted Cruz. The numbers at this point in that campaign, simply put, did not support that conclusion. But the numbers at this point absolutely support the conclusion that James Tallarico can win. So take a look Texas Senate polls in May of the election year, when you matched up o', Rourke, Beto o' Rourke versus Ted Cruz, Ted Cruz was up by seven points. He was clearly ahead. But look at the polling average now. When you max up Ken Paxton versus James Talarico, it's actually Talarico that's ahead by four points. And Johnny B. I was looking back at every single Texas Senate race that I could find in. And at this point in the campaign, James Talarico is polling better than any Democrat in at least 24 years.
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Enten arguing this is not simply a replay of the 2018 cycle when Democrats poured energy and money into Beto O' Rourke's challenge against Senator Ted Cruz. At the time, Enten says Cruz was not nearly as vulnerable as the Democrats and media suggested. This year. Enten points to a broader polling picture showing Paxton underwater and Talarico running ahead in the polls.
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Ted Cruz's net favorability was actually plus 7 points in my average polls. Look where Ken Paxton is the complete inverse of that. He was seven. He's seven points underwater. So look again, you just look at the numbers. In 2018, Democrats had this dream of turning Texas blue. The numbers didn't support it in large part because Ted Cruz was actually decently popular. But Ken Paxton is anything but. In poll after poll after poll, he is underwater. No wonder Republican senators are running scared, especially after that Trump endorsement of Paxton. Yet back in May 2018 Trump's net popularity in Texas he was at +4 points. He was above what? Again, we're looking at the inverse of that. Trump is considerably less popular in Texas, which of course matches what we're seeing nationally, which is that Donald Trump is less popular now than he was at this point in term. When you put it all together, you look at the general election polls, you look at the popularity of potential Republican candidates, they'll be running for Texas Senate, you look at Donald Trump's popularity as well, and you go, okay, Texas is absolutely in play.
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Politico reporting Trump's endorsement of Paxton setting off panic among Senate Republicans now worried they could lose a Senate seat Democrats have not won since 1988. Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska saying, quote, how does that help strengthen the president's hand? I mean, we lose a state like Texas. Puck News reporting. The endorsement came after a tense behind the scenes clash between President Trump and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, according to the outlet. Several Republican sources say Trump decided to buck Senate leadership after Thune told him security funding for the President's proposed White House ballroom was in jeopardy and that he would not fire the Senate parliamentarian after she ruled against including that money in an ICE funding bill. Puck reporting Trump was furious moving forward with the Paxton endorsement despite warnings from Republicans. The latest RealClearPolitics polling average shows Paxton favored by 3.2 points over Cornyn in the Republican runoff in the general election. RCP shows Talarico leading Paxton by 1.5 points, 44.3 to 42.8 against Cornyn. RCP showing Talarico ahead by a narrower half point, 42.8 to 42.3. The Republican runoff is set for Tuesday. A Detroit bound Air France flight diverted to Canada after U.S. officials say a passenger from Congo was mistakenly allowed to board despite new Ebola related travel restrictions. Ebola is a severe and often deadly virus that spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids, including blood, vomit, urine and saliva. Health officials stress it only spreads when a person is showing symptoms, not from simply near someone who appears healthy. An outbreak confirmed on May 15th in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo. According to the World Health Organization. The outbreak now growing to more than 600 suspected cases and more than 139 suspected deaths. Other countries impacted by the outbreak include Uganda and South Sudan. The Washington Post reporting an American doctor who tested positive for while working in Congo was taken to Germany for treatment along with six other Americans considered high risk contacts in response to the outbreak. The CDC on Monday announcing U.S. travel restrictions non U.S. passport holders who have been in Congo, Uganda or South Sudan in the previous 21 days are restricted from entering the country and all US citizens and lawful permanent residents who have recently been in those countries must now enter the US Through Washington Dulles Airport, where the CDC and DHS will conduct enhanced public health screenings. Which brings us back to the Air France flight, air France Flight 378 departing from Paris and set to land Wednesday in Detroit, diverting to Montreal, Canada, after US Officials determined a passenger should not have been allowed to board the plane under the restrictions. Canadian health officials say the passenger was evaluated by a quarantine officer determined to be asymptomatic and then sent back to Paris, the plane later continuing to Detroit. While the story may be unsettling, health experts say the risk to Americans remains extremely low. Here. Dr. Mark Siegel on Fox News explains,
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I want people out there to know that this requires very close spread. Most of the cases originate from poor burial practices. Actually, you really have to get in touch very close contact with secretions for this to spread. It isn't from breathing it. And so that's good news. They're in development for a vaccine for this and they should have it in about six to nine months. And bill, unfortunately, this outbreak is going to last for probably more than a year, but Americans should be reassured that the chances of it coming here or having any kind of sustained spread here is zero.
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That'll do it for your AM Update. I'm Emily Jasinsky, host of After Party. Catch the Megyn Kelly show live on SiriusXM's the Megyn Kelly Channel 111 at noon east on YouTube.com megankelly and all podcast platforms.
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