Trump Power Strikes Again: Massie Defeated in GOP Primary
Trump-backed Ed Gallrein defeats GOP rebel Thomas Massie in a dramatic $32M Kentucky primary battle, tightening Trump’s grip on Republicans.
Congressman Thomas Massie, one of Donald Trump's most vocal Republican critics, has lost his re-election bid to a challenger backed by the President.
Former Navy SEAL Ed Gallaren, following his victory in Tuesday's Kentucky primary, will now compete in the midterm elections scheduled for November.
This contest—which was the most expensive primary election in the history of the House of Representatives—was viewed as a crucial test of President Trump's decade-long grip on the Republican Party.
Trump repeatedly urged voters to support Gallaren over the incumbent Congressman Massie; he had described Massie as a "very bad guy" and "the worst Republican congressman in history."
Massie, who has held office since 2012, publicly broke with Trump last year by voting against Trump's "big and bold" tax and spending bill, citing concerns regarding the national debt. He also voted in favor of halting Trump's interdictions of suspected drug-carrying vessels in the Caribbean Sea and limiting his ongoing military actions in Iran.
Massie also joined forces with Democrats—and a handful of Republicans—to compel Trump's Department of Justice to release all files related to Jeffrey Epstein.
In Tuesday's vote, he suffered a defeat, garnering 45 percent of the vote against his opponent's 55 percent; this marked a major victory for Trump, who has successfully ousted several dissenting Republican leaders by backing more loyal challengers.
At his victory party, Gallaren told his supporters that he had come "a long way"—from a childhood spent on his family's dairy farm to becoming a political candidate.
"The winner of this race tonight is not Ed Gallaren," he declared. "Rather, it is the Republicans of Kentucky's 4th District—and their families—for whose interests I will stand as a warrior in Washington."
He also expressed his gratitude to Trump for his support and "advice" during this election race.
Several of the President's major donors backed Gallaren, and more than $32 million (£23 million) was spent on campaign advertisements in the Kentucky district.
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In his concession speech, Massie stated that voters had signaled they want someone who "gets along with everyone," but he also added: "There is a deep yearning in this country for someone who votes based on their principles rather than on party interests." He criticized the administration's foreign aid spending, plans to build a ballroom in the White House, the large donations given to his opponent, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's decision to campaign for Gallaren in Kentucky on Monday.
"They panicked and sent the Secretary of War down here—and you stopped the war for a day," he said, while his supporters chanted his name and shouted "America First" slogans.
On Monday, in a series of social media posts, Trump criticized Massie, calling him "a obstructionist and a fool."
Massie subsequently touted his voting record, noting that he votes with Trump "90% of the time," but added that the President and his allies demand "100% obedience."
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"They only get angry about that 10% of the time—when I don't vote in favor of a war, when I don't vote in favor of warrantless surveillance, and when I don't vote to bankrupt the country," he said. In a separate development in Kentucky on Tuesday, Congressman Andy Barr won the Republican nomination to succeed retiring Senator Mitch McConnell; McConnell has served in the Senate for over 40 years.
Trump had endorsed Barr, and his victory came as no surprise—particularly given that Trump had intervened to offer Barr's main Republican rival an ambassadorship.
Trump has been aggressively wielding his influence through recent Republican endorsements; this includes helping to derail the reelection campaign of an incumbent senator who voted to convict him during his impeachment trial in 2021.
In Texas as well, he has thrown his support behind Ken Paxton rather than longtime Republican Senator John Cornyn.
Speaking on Tuesday about his decision to endorse Paxton, Trump stated, "John Cornyn is a good man, and I’ve worked well with him, but when the chips were down, he wasn’t there for me."
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