Cassidy Ousted in Louisiana | Is Iran Cracking? | Mike Johnson, Just Stop Talking | 5/18/26

The A.M. Update

Aaron McIntire

News, Daily News, Politics

4.9 • 833 Ratings

🗓️ 18 May 2026

⏱️ 25 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Bill Cassidy, Miad Maleki's FDD Iran assessment, Mike Johnson, Spencer Pratt, Jensen Huang, and DINK couples headline today's A.M. Update. Bill Cassidy becomes the first sitting senator in 15 years to lose a primary, finishing third behind Trump-endorsed Julia Letlow and State Treasurer John Fleming in Louisiana, as Aaron argues this should happen every election cycle, not once a decade. FDD senior fellow Miad Maleki's weekend post paints a stark picture of Iran's internal collapse: fuel rationing, black markets at gas stations, and crude exports down more than 80% since March with no viable overland alternatives. Mike Johnson steps on two rakes in one week, telling CBS the Strait of Hormuz situation will eventually let the administration get back to kitchen table issues, then floating a congressional pay raise and stock trading privileges in the middle of a midterm year. Spencer Pratt's AI Karen Bass parody ad draws laughs, Jensen Huang warns AI will need a thousand times more energy than we currently produce, and Aaron closes with a viral DINK couple's 40-country photo book collection and what he thinks they're really searching for.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	It's Monday, May 18, 2026. The rarest of political events happened over the weekend.
0:05.1	An honest assessment, I think, of Iran, and it'd be nice if certain Republicans would just
0:09.7	stop talking for a little bit. Next on the AM update.
0:16.5	Oh, the rarest of rarities went down in Louisiana over the weekend as a Senate incumbent lost in a primary.
0:26.2	That would be the Senate primary in the state of Louisiana.
0:29.4	Bill Cassidy lost his primary.
0:32.1	Not only did he lose, he came in third place.
0:35.3	First time in nearly 15 years, a sitting U.S. Senator lost their primary
0:39.3	in a non-special election. Bill Cassidy, missing out on the runoff to John Fleming and
0:45.2	Julia Letlow. Letlow is endorsed by President Trump. This is the rarest of rare events in politics.
0:51.7	Of course, Bill Cassidy, despite having voted for some of Trump's nominees,
0:57.2	if you read between the lines, he was one of the worst senators, and particularly with the
1:02.3	health and human services picks or those who are in that orbit, one of the worst, trying to
1:07.6	muck things up behind the scenes, making demands out of people like RFK Jr., again, if you believe the reports, and I find them rather believable.
1:14.0	So even though officially on the surface, his hands were always clean in support of President
1:18.5	Trump's nominations, the dude was working against the people, behind the scenes, working
1:25.0	against the will of the people.
1:26.8	Here is Bill Cassidy. He was one of the seven Republicans during the will of the people here is bill cassidy he was one of the
1:28.8	seven republicans during the second impeachment of president trump one of the seven republicans
1:33.5	to vote to convict president trump in the senate he was asked by jason schavitz on a fox
1:38.7	news big weekend show over the weekend if he would do anything different now, now that time has passed.
1:45.1	I'm incredibly proud of that. Chairman, Jason Chaffetz, you and I got to serve in the Congress
	...

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