News On Tap For Wednesday, May 20, 2026

The Terminal Corruption Of The Republican Party

Today’s “News On Tap” has a clear flavor of the Trump regime’s corruption & a clear message - the old Republican Party is dead, & it’s not coming back. The details are in the news, with the Election Returns for losers from last night, the coming blue wave, & the fight to vote. The massive corruption of the Trump regime has been lit up like a flame in Trump’s new ‘Reparations For Traitors’ plan. And all that corruption from Trump & Republicans has a rising cost, with Trump’s failed foreign wars, and the growing failure of Trumponomics. Meanwhile, the next potential pandemic is spreading rapidly thanks to the incompetence of the Trump regime. Thankfully, there’s some Entertainment News to help keep our minds off all of this. Plus, Bob Cesca is back at the bar to help us laugh our way through it. Grab a drink, then read up, get informed, and we’ll see you here tonight!

First Round - The War Over Democracy

Election Returns For Losers

• Seven-Term House Rep. Thomas Massie Loses Primary In Big Win For Trump And AIPAC

• Massie Delivers Trump A Major Warning After His Primary Defeat: I’ve Still Got Time In Congress - & I Intend To Use It

• As Expected, Brad Raffensperger Loses Republican Primary For Georgia Governor

• Trump Completed His Political Revenge Tour. His Republican Allies Think The Cost Of His Actions Will Be Brutal.

Election Returns For Winners

• Keisha Lance Bottoms, Former Atlanta Mayor, Wins Democratic Primary For Georgia Governor

• Former U.S. Sen. Doug Jones Wins Democratic Primary For Alabama Governor’s Race

• Gov. Josh Shapiro Wins His Primary As Democrats He Supported Also Win Their In Pennsylvania Swing District House Primaries In Building Blue Wave

• Democratic Primary Wins & More: Roundup Of Results From Tuesday’s Elections For House And Other Races

The Coming Blue Wave

• Trump Endorses Ken Paxton In Upcoming Texas Republican U.S. Senate Runoff Election

• Republican Senators Are Livid At Trump’s Endorsement Of Paxton [Gift Link]

• Polling USA: Latest Polling Models Say Democratic Candidates Now Lead In 52 Senate Seats, 233 House Seats

• At CAP Action Conference, Leading Democrats Make Clear: Their Plan When They Take Back Congress Is To ‘Fight Fire With Fire’

The Fight To Vote

• South Carolina House Republicans Ram Through New Extremist Republican Congressional Map, As Bill Heads To SC Senate

• NAACP Launches National Campaign Urging Black Athletes To Withhold Commitments From Colleges & Universities In The South Over Voting Rights

• Virginia Gov. Spanberger To Sign Order To Deal With Possibility Of Federal Agents At Polling Places

Second Round - The Costs Of Republican Failure

Trump’s Failed Foreign Wars

• Iran Is Now Consolidating Control Of The Strait Of Hormuz With Island Checkpoints, Diplomatic Deals – And Sometimes ‘Fees’

• New Report Exposes Early Iran War Goal For Trump Was To Install Hard Line Former Pres. Ahmadinejad As Iran’s New Leader [Gift Link]

• Senate Democrats Advance War Powers Resolution To End Iran War As Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy Flips To Support It

• 94-Year-Old Former Cuban Pres. Raúl Castro Indicted By Trump DOJ Over 1996 Fatal Downing Of Two Planes

• The Story Of Cuba’s 1996 Shootdown That Led To Raúl Castro’s Indictment

• As The U.S. Starves It Of Oil, Cuba Is Pulling Off One Of The Fastest Solar Revolutions On The Planet — With China’s Help

Trumponomics Is Failing Massively

• All 50 States Now Have $4/Gallon Gas Or Higher As Iran War Impacts Continue

• Memorial Day Weekend Sticker Shock Hits Hard, As Gas Prices Reach All-Time Highs

• Bond Yields Hit Highest Level Since Just Before Great Recession, As Inflation Fears Hit New High

• Allison Morrow: The Bond Market Is Flashing A Warning Sign For The Global Economy

• Michael Tomasky: When Will Americans Realize The Truth - Republicans Always Wreck The Economy

Third Round - Reparations For Traitors

• New Term In Corrupt “Settlement” Would Also Bar IRS From Investigating Trump & His Family In The Future, For Any Past Or Future Tax Issues

• Trump DOJ Official Told MAGA Republican Ally That ‘Big Payouts’ Were Coming For Jan. 6 Insurrectionists As Part Of New Trump “Settlement”

• Longtime Trump Ally Michael Caputo Files First Known Claim For Funds From So-Called ‘Anti-Weaponization’ Fund

• Police Officers Who Defended U.S. Capitol On January 6 Sue To Stop Trump’s $1.8B Insurrectionist Reparations Fund

• “A Government Of Laws, Not Men”: John Adams Quote Projected On DOJ Building In Protest Of Trump’s $1.8B Fund

• Rep. Jamie Raskin Moves To Subpoena Top Trump Officials Blanche, Bessent, & Others Behind Trump Slush Fund

• Barb McQuade: Trump’s $1.8 Billion So-Called ‘Anti-Weaponization Fund’ Is An Illegal Sham

• Elie Mystal: With His Latest Scam, Trump Is Trying To Create A White Grievance Reparations Fund

• Greg Sargent: Trump’s Corrupt Slush Fund For Insurrectionists Is A Massive Political Weapon For Democrats That They Must Use

Fourth Round - More News To Drink About

The Next Potential Pandemic

• World Health Organization Concerned Over Massive & Growing ‘Scale And Speed’ Of Ebola Outbreak

• NPR: How Contagious Is Ebola? And How Worried Should You Be About The Current Outbreak?

• Former Officials Confirm Absence Of USAID - Due To Trump & Republican’s Massive Budget Cuts - Slowed Ebola Detection And Response

Miscellaneous But Important

• Trump Orders Banks To Take A Closer Look At Clients’ Citizenship In New Immigration Enforcement Move

• New Analysis Confirms Roughly 5 Million People Could Lose Coverage From The ACA Marketplace This Year, After Republicans Refused To Renew Tax Credits

• Eight Democrats Vote To Confirm Trump Judicial Nominee Who Refused To Say Trump Lost 2020 Election

Fifth Round - Media, Entertainment, & More

Rest In Peace

• Former Rep. Barney Frank, Champion Of Wall Street Reform And Gay Rights Trailblazer, Dies At 86

Media Matters

• James Murdoch (The Liberal One) Buys New York Magazine, Vox Media’s Podcast Network, And Vox’s Website In Deal Worth More Than $300 Million

• Google Announces Slew Of Ai Additions & Makes Clear - Google Search As You Know It Is Over

Entertainment & More

• ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ Sequel Series ‘The Testaments’ Renewed By Hulu For Season 2

• ‘The Boys’ Series Finale Unpacked By Showrunner Eric Kripke: ‘It Was Always Going To Be That’ **SPOILER WARNING**

• In New Netflix Documentary, Pop Superstar Kylie Minogue Announces She Had Second Cancer Diagnosis In 2021, Which She Hid From Public

• Game 1, NBA Eastern Conference Finals: Jalen Brunson Leads NY Knicks To Epic Comeback, From 22 Down In The 4th, To A 115-104 Win Over The Cleveland Cavaliers In OT

Your Bar Regular Tonight

Bob Cesca, podcaster, broadcaster, journalist, artist, & host of The Bob Cesca Show, as well as co-host of the award-winning Trek Politics is back at the bar tonight. He’s got another new piece up at The Banter as well, “Republicans Want You to Have More Babies. They Just Won’t Help Pay For Them” - which, as usual for Bob, is spot on. We’ll talk with him about his latest work, and draw a few rounds from the News On Tap as we talk about all the news of the day. Join us tonight!

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