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Wednesday, May 20, 2026

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intervention overseas, and he routinely voted against U.S. foreign aid, including to Israel, drawing millions of dollars against him from pro-Israel interest groups. And perhaps most remarkably, Massie, in partnership with Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California, persisted in a long-shot effort to force the Justice Department’s release of the Jeffrey

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Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie charted his own way, until toppled by Trump - Netscape News Netscape Internet Service News News Home U.S. World Entertainment Money Politics Sports Science Health Odd News Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie charted his own way, until toppled by Trump By LISA MASCARO AP Congressional Correspondent There aren’t many lawmakers like Thomas Massie left in Congress. The renegade Republican who rose to prominence as an idiosyncratic and stubborn outlier in his party, popular in the Kentucky district that repeatedly sent him to the House, lost his primary bid for reelection Tuesday after a vicious and costly attack by President Donald Trump . The stunning outcome caps a career like few others and shows the extent of the president’s ability to badger, badmouth and eventually boot out his political adversaries — and that no lawmaker is apparently safe. Massie's defeat comes after the Trump-led ouster of Sen. Bill Cassidy in Louisiana over the weekend and the president's endorsement Tuesday of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in his challenge to Sen. John Cornyn, which sent chills through the Senate. Trump had reserved his fiercest attacks for Massie, a quirky conservative who had become among the most powerful rank-and-file Republicans in the House because of his willingness to vote as he pleased, rather than as the party demanded. And now he's been toppled like so many other Republicans who crossed the president. Massie was undaunted after losing to Ed Gallrein , a former Navy SEAL handpicked by Trump. “If the legislative branch always votes with the president, we do have a king,” Massie told cheering supporters Tuesday night. But if lawmakers follow the Constitution, he said, “we have a republic.” Massie also teased that his political career may not be over quite yet during the closing moments of his concession speech, as a raucous crowd broke into chants of “2028!” and “President!” “You’ve made a compelling argument,” he replied. “We’ll talk about it later.” Trump said of Massie’s defeat: “He deserves to lose.” Massie's rise from backbench to prominence to defeat Massie rose from the House Republican backbench, charting his own path and showing again and again he was willing to buck his party and the president. He voted against Trump’s big tax cuts bill last year, worried the several trillion-dollar costs would add to the nation’s deficits. He rejected Trump’s military forays against Iran and Venezuela , opposed to U.S. intervention overseas, and he routinely voted against U.S. foreign aid, including to Israel, drawing millions of dollars against him from pro-Israel interest groups. And perhaps most remarkably, Massie, in partnership with Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California, persisted in a long-shot effort to force the Justice Department’s release of the Jeffrey

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