Thomas Massie resisted a common Republican political rule that opposing President Trump triggers electoral defeat. He said he was not worried about losing while describing his support in Kentucky. He had already angered Trump by voting against government-funding bills, criticizing tariffs, and opposing a major Trump-backed spending bill. Trump retaliated by attacking Massie and promising to find a primary opponent, while allies supported efforts to undermine him with ads. Massie continued to oppose Trump’s actions, including criticism of military moves and support for releasing Epstein-related files. Despite his independent record and bipartisan efforts, he lost his primary to Ed Gallrein by about 10 points and conceded after polls closed.
"“I'm not worried about losing,” he told me last spring inside the Capitol, as he explained to a group of reporters the strength of his support within his Kentucky district. Massie had already angered Trump just a few months into the president's second term, after clashing with him during his first. Massie voted against government-funding bills, criticized the president's tariffs, and would soon become one of the only Republicans in Congress to oppose Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which the fiscally hawkish Massie deemed irresponsible."
"Trump lashed out at Massie and vowed to find a primary opponent to defeat his bid for an eighth term; as early as last summer, the president's allies stood up a political-action committee to run ads attacking Massie in his district. Still, Massie refused to fall in line. Over the next several months, he condemned Trump's military adventurism, including his unilateral attacks on Iran, and he helped lead a remarkably successful bipartisan effort to force the administration to release its trove of files on the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein."
"Maybe he believed he was uniquely positioned to withstand a Trump-backed barrage. Or perhaps he knew he was toast and had resolved to go down on his own terms. Either way, last night Massie met the same fate as so many of Trump's Republican critics: He lost his primary. In the end, Massie's campaign against Ed Gallrein, a Navy SEAL whom the president had personally recruited to run, wasn't particularly close."
"Gallrein won by about 10 points, and Massie conceded not long after the polls closed"
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