Massie Loses Kentucky Primary, Trump Backs Paxton, Tyler Robinson Back in Court: AM Update 5/20

0:00To realize the future America needs, we understand what's needed from us. To face each threat head on. We've earned our place in the fight for our nation's future. We are Marines. We were made for this. Good morning, everyone. I'm Megyn Kelly. It's Wednesday, May 20th, 2026, and this is your AM Update. Another scalp in President Trump's revenge tour this primary season as Kentucky voters oust Thomas Massey. The president makes an endorsement in the highly contentious Republican primary battle for U.S. Senate in Texas. The state has tried to make it abundantly clear throughout this process that we favor open hearings.

0:44Tyler Robinson back in court as his team fights to limit what the public can see at an upcoming hearing in the Charlie Kirk murder case. So just to be clear, Tom, you don't pay anyone for endorsements, correct? Content creator wise? No. And Democrat candidate for California Governor Tom Steyer under investigation, accused of paying influencers for their support while not disclosing the funding. All that and more coming up in just a moment on your AM update.

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2:43At the end of the night, Kentucky Republicans proving President Trump still holds considerable sway inside the party, choosing Galrine as their nominee. The race called quickly by various outlets, with Galrine winning by a healthy margin, Galrine delivering remarks after his victory. I want to thank President Trump for his support. his endorsement and his counsel as I navigated this campaign, which is a journey of and to itself, and for his courageous leadership of our nation at this critical time. Here, Massey acknowledging the loss. I would have come out sooner, but I had to call my opponent and concede, and it took a while to find Ed Galrine in Tel Aviv.

3:33I did get the call through, though. I have called and conceded the race. We've been honorable the whole time, and we're going to stay that way. You know, welcome to the most expensive congressional primary ever in the 250-year history of this country. It's not just the most expensive. This thing went on longer than Vietnam. It started nine months ago, and they didn't even have a candidate, and they decided they want to take me out. The race shattering spending records, becoming the most expensive house primary in history. According to Ad Impact Politics, more than$32 million spent on advertising in this race, the highest total since the firm began tracking house primary ad spending in 2018.

4:19Of that,$10.9 million spent supporting Gal Ryan versus$6.2 million spent attacking him. 7.6 million going to support Thomas Massey, with 7.9 million spent attacking him. Congressman Massey landing on President Trump's bad side after repeatedly breaking with the White House on some of the biggest fights inside the GOP. The congressman among the leaders in the House effort to release the Epstein files, opposing foreign aid spending to all countries, including Israel, and criticizing U.S. military action against Iran. Massey, one of just two Republicans last year who voted against President Trump's signature legislation, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

5:02President Trump, who endorsed the congressman in 2022, routinely bashing him on Truth Social recently. In one March post, the president writing, quote, I predict that Representative Thomas Massey will go down as the worst Republican congressman in the long and fabled history of the United States Congress, even worse than crazy Liz Cheney. But President Trump, not the only one aiming to take out Massey. The race also drawing millions from pro-Israel groups furious over Massey's foreign policy record. According to Politico, the Republican Jewish Coalition Victory Fund spending more than$4 million on ads attacking Massey, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, reportedly dropping nearly$5 million on the race.

5:48Congressman Massey last Friday telling Politico his resistance to sending U.S. taxpayer money overseas does not equate to anti-Semitism, and that he is not against Israel, warning against trying to equate criticism of the politics of Benjamin Netanyahu with anti-Semitism. Galrine, selected by the White House to challenge Massey, pledging full loyalty to President Trump and his agenda. In March, President Trump holding a rally for Galrine in Kentucky, referring to him as, quote, a great patriot. 68-year-old Galrine has never held public office, running instead on his military record as a former Navy SEAL and his roots as a fifth-generation Kentucky farmer.

6:28Galrine declining multiple times to debate Congressman Massey. Galrine will take on Democrat Melissa Strange in the November general election. President Trump making his long-awaited endorsement in the Texas Republican Senate primary, wading into a bitter GOP fight with control of the Senate potentially on the line, choosing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over incumbent John Cornyn. The endorsement coming ahead of a runoff showdown next week after neither candidate secured enough support to win the March primary outright. Cornyn first elected to the Senate in 2002, positioning himself as a staunch conservative statesman and a senior Republican dealmaker in Washington.

7:11Paxton building his national profile as an aggressive legal combatant against Democratic administrations, filing dozens of lawsuits against President Obama and more than 100 against President Biden. Cornyn's campaign and Associated Pax reportedly spending about$100 million on attack ads throughout the primary, hammering Paxton over years of scandal, legal fights, and ethics allegations. Still, Mr. Trump opting to endorse Paxton, posting to Truth Social yesterday, quote, Ken Paxton has my complete and total endorsement to be the next United States senator from the great state of Texas, Ken Paxton will never let you down.

7:49That runoff set for May 26th. The winner will go on to face state representative James Tallarico, progressive Democrat who also frames his politics in Christian language, once referring to God as non-binary, and whom Republicans view as a serious threat in November. Senator Cornyn responding to the news yesterday by leaning hard into electability, counting his record of voting with President Trump more than 99 % of the time, noting the president has, quote, consistently called me a friend in this race. The senator continuing, quote, It is now time for Texas Republican voters to decide if they want a strong nominee to help our GOP candidates down ballot and defeat Tallarico in November, or a weak nominee who jeopardizes everything we care about.

8:37I trust the Republican voters of Texas. coming up Tyler Robinson's defense team asking the judge to close off parts of the upcoming preliminary hearing to the public and Tom Steyer's campaign for California governor under investigation accused of paying influencers to promote the billionaire Democrat without proper disclosure.

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10:29His attorney's delivering arguments on two motions. The first asking the judge to hold a hearing to decide whether to hold Utah County Attorney Chris Ballard in contempt of court over his appearance on Fox News, where he discussed an ATF report tied to evidence in the case. The second asking the court to deny media access to certain portions of Robinson's upcoming preliminary hearing, where prosecutors will try to show that they have enough evidence to send this case to trial. The ATF report at the center of the first motion, becoming a flashpoint after Robinson's defense team highlighted that investigators could not conclusively match a bullet fragment recovered from Charlie's body to the rifle allegedly tied to Robinson.

11:13Prosecutor Ballard then speaking to Fox News and other outlets, arguing the report was being mischaracterized. Ballard saying the bullet fragment was too damaged for a conclusive match, but was still consistent with the type of round used by the rifle found at the scene. Defense attorney Richard Novak arguing Ballard violated the court's gag order, which bars both sides from discussing the case with media in ways that could prejudice the jury. Novak adding that if prosecutors believed the defense had mischaracterized the report, there were other channels to address it. If Mr. Ballard and his colleagues thought that we mischaracterized the ATF report, which we did not, but if that's what they really believed in good faith, they could have done at least three things.

11:58One, they could have filed something with this court, a judicial communication, which said, we think that Mr. Novak and his colleagues have mischaracterized this ATF report. Number two, they could have reached out to us and said, we think that you have either inadvertently or intentionally misconstrued or mischaracterized this ATF report, and we would like the parties to file something. Instead, what they did was they drafted an email and they sent it to media entities like TMZ and they scheduled an interview for Mr. Ballard with Fox and Friends. State Attorney Ryan McBride countering that prosecutors were allowed to publicly respond because the reporting had created its own risk of prejudicing this case.

12:44In this case, there was a tidal wave of media garnering more than 10 million views in a matter of hours that mischaracterized the evidence, that misrepresented the evidence, that misled the potential jury pool as to what the evidence was. That media, of course, reached Utah County. It was widespread, and it created an undue risk of prejudicing or tainting and tainting the jury pool. Now, I've mentioned the misleading reports by the media, but I want to be clear, I don't place the blame on this for the media. These are reports the media has repeated from defense counsel's misleading statements.

13:22And I disagree wholeheartedly with defense counsel's statement that their statements and their pleading was not misleading because it absolutely was. Prosecutor McBride, arguing the defense, left out the other half of the finding. ATF also could not exclude the rifle as the source of the bullet. If that omission, that material omission was included here, that the ATF was unable to identify or exclude the bullet, everyone would know that this is not exculpatory evidence. And that leads me to the second material omission, which is the analyst reported that the bullet was a.30 caliber class bullet jacket fragment.

14:04.30 caliber class. What does that tell you? Well, that excludes a whole bunch of weapons from possibly being the weapon in this case. And on the short list of weapons that are included is a.30-06, the weapon that was found at the scene. The reason that omission is material is because it shows that this evidence is not in fact exculpatory. By no stretch of the imagination is the testimony of this witness exculpatory. On the second matter of Robinson's upcoming preliminary hearing, Robinson's defense team asking the judge to restrict media access during portions of the proceeding. Judge Graff previously allowing cameras in the courtroom, but here the defense arguing the media's access should be limited.

14:52Robinson's lawyer saying the public learning about inadmissible evidence could taint the jury pool. Defense attorney Stacey Visser arguing the case has already generated extensive adverse publicity, referencing the fight over the ATF report as an example of how evidence can be misconstrued once it reaches the media and potential jury pool. Our goal here is to prevent that from happening by avoiding publication of evidence before there has been admissibility determinations. Most of the preliminary hearing, as far as we can tell, is going to be based off of reliable hearsay. They're calling five officers to discuss a very extensive investigation.

15:35the reports are lengthy and contain lots of statements from other officers and people that collected evidence. And unfortunately, we're not in a very good position right now to know what of that testimony is going to be based on personal knowledge versus reliable hearsay. So our solution, what we see, is closing the preliminary hearing. And this court thereafter providing a transcript of what occurred during the preliminary hearing that can account for all of the evidence that wouldn't be admissible at trial. Deputy Utah County Attorney Chad Grunander drawing a line between limiting public access to certain exhibits and closing the courtroom altogether.

16:20The state has tried to make it abundantly clear throughout this process that we favor open hearings so that the public can trust what happens in this courtroom. And public confidence increases when people can see justice at work. Are there feasible and effective tools available to this court to ensure a fair trial? We've talked about the idea of shielding the public from some of the exhibits that are going to be offered into evidence. We do favor, Your Honor, we favor Your Honor denying access to the public and the media from physically handling the exhibits and copying the exhibits that are admitted during the preliminary hearing.

17:00Many of the exhibits will be used at the trial at some point in the future. And having the media access those and try the case in the public, if you will, I don't think serves the administration of justice. So I think we concur with the defense with respect to that. Grunander previewing some of the evidence expected at the preliminary hearing, including a pre-recorded video statement from Tyler Robinson's transgender furry partner, Lance Twiggs. Grunander acknowledging the sensitive nature of some of the videos, arguing that rather than closing the courtroom, monitors could be turned away from the public when that evidence is shown.

17:40Judge Graff telling both sides he will rule on the access motion on June 1st and the alleged gag order violation on June 12th. Robinson's preliminary hearing currently scheduled for July 6th through July 10th. Robinson remains held on bond on seven charges, including aggravated murder with prosecutors seeking the death penalty. Robinson has not yet entered a plea. Billionaire Tom Steyer, a Democratic candidate for California governor, now facing a state ethics investigation over allegations that his campaign paid social media influencers for promotional content without following proper disclosure procedures.

18:19The Washington Post reporting Steyer's campaign paying, quote, thousands of dollars to individual influencers who have championed his progressive policies and financial bona fides. In an interview with creator Isaiah Washington, who has 1.8 million TikTok followers, Steyer casting himself as a threat to the very same billionaire class from which he hails. People, especially my age, have been scorned by capitalism. You're somebody who has benefited greatly from it in your life. How are you planning on gaining the trust of people who maybe are against the things that you've succeeded in really well?

18:56Every billionaire that we're seeing is behaving so badly, is so selfish, is so arrogant. I've been thrown out of those firms. I don't share their values. I'm opposing what they're doing. I'm a threat to them. According to campaign finance records reviewed by The Post, Isaiah was paid$10 ,000 by Steyer's campaign, but the partnership was not disclosed in his TikTok post, which has now been deleted. Isaiah did not respond to The Post's questions for comment. That interview, now part of a broader complaint, filed with California's Fair Political Practices Commission. Under California law, online creators are required to include a disclaimer when they are paid to support or oppose a candidate.

19:37Last week, two California-based creators who support former Biden Health Secretary Javier Becerra, another Democrat in the governor's race, filing a complaint with the commission. They allege that Steyer's campaign arranged payments to, quote, perhaps dozens of outside influencers who posted favorable content about Steyer without the disclosures required under California law. The complaint now prompting a state probe into possible violations of California's political ad disclosure rules. One of the complainants, creator Beatrice Gomberg, telling the Post she believes Steyer's strategy was designed to make paid influencer content look like genuine political support.

20:18The Post reporting Steyer's campaign paid more than$300 ,000 to strategy firm Gutsy Media for production services, digital consulting, and other expenses. That firm paying out about$2 ,000 per creator for positive content about Steyer. Some of those videos including captions disclosing that they were made, quote, in partnership with Steyer for Governor 2026. But other posts from influencers did not include any such disclosure. Steyer confronted on Monday by an ABC News reporter regarding the investigation. So just to be clear, Tom, you don't pay anyone for endorsement. That's correct, content creator-wise?

20:58No, absolutely not. What do you pay them for? Absolutely not. We pay them for their time. But what does that mean? And let me say this, Jenny. That means that we pay them for doing work. They choose what to do. They endorse us because they believe in our platform or they don't endorse us. You have no way in on the content. No. They are independent businesses, independent small businesses. We pay them for their time. They do whatever they want to do. The obvious question is, if they don't choose to support you, do they still get the money? Gonna guess not, Tom. And that'll do it for your AM Update.

21:36I'm Megan Kelly. Join me back here for the MK Show, live on SiriusXM's The Megan Kelly Channel, 111 at noon east, on youtube.com slash megankelly, and on all podcast platforms.

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