A large crowd gathered for Rep. Thomas Massie’s political funeral after he lost Kentucky’s Fourth District Republican primary. Supporters shouted for 2028 as Massie joked about conceding by phone and repeated familiar themes such as ending forever wars and reducing national debt. Voters in the district did not accept the message, and Massie blamed outside spending that supported Ed Gallrein, a former Navy SEAL. The primary became one of the most expensive recent congressional races, driven by pro-Trump billionaires Miriam Adelson and Paul Singer. Massie’s libertarian fiscal conservatism and Trump’s outsider popularism had long differed, but tensions intensified over Massie’s push to release the Epstein Files, which conflicted with Trump’s efforts to downplay the case. Trump’s tolerance for defiance ended when Massie faced the party’s political machinery.
"“2028!” shouted the overwhelmingly young group that had turned out on a very hot Tuesday night in Kentucky to watch the man who built his career on defiance wave the white flag. Massie hit all the usual notes, from ending forever wars to vanquishing the accelerating national debt. And he casually smiled while joking about conceding to his primary challenger, Ed Gallrein, by phone call earlier in the evening: “I would have come out sooner but I had to call my opponent to concede and it took a while to find Ed Gallrein in Tel Aviv.”"
"Massie bemoaned outside interests that had spent wildly to prop up Gallrein, a former Navy SEAL whom President Donald Trump plucked out of obscurity to primary him. In the end, the primary became the most expensive congressional race in recent years, as the pro-Trump billionaires Miriam Adelson and Paul Singer spent millions to oust Massie, a vocal critic of Israel and, increasingly, Trump himself."
"Though Massie, a fiscal conservative with libertarian roots, and Trump, the limousine liberal who commandeered the Republican Party to advance his outsider brand of “popularism,” have always had their differences, the animosity grew by magnitudes in recent months. The breaking point was Massie’s push to release the Epstein Files, a move that put him on a direct collision course with a president who has sought to downplay the case."
"“The bottom line is this,” the CNN analyst Harry Enten said confidently. “Donald Trump is the general of the Republican Party and the Republican primary voters are his soldiers.” The machinery that delivered Massie’s defeat was tran"
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