Trump-Backed Candidate Defeats Rep. Massie in Kentucky Primary

President Donald Trump scored another victory in his campaign against Republican critics on Tuesday when a Trump-backed candidate defeated Rep. Thomas Massie in Kentucky’s GOP primary.

Trump-endorsed Ed Gallrein, a former Navy SEAL and Kentucky farmer, defeated Massie, according to The Associated Press. Gallrein’s win represents a major victory for Trump’s political operation and pro-Israel groups that spent heavily to unseat the incumbent.

Trump repeatedly attacked Massie in personal terms in the final days of the race and highlighted his endorsement of Gallrein, whom he recruited to run. On Monday, the president called Massie “the worst ‘Republican’ congressman in history.”

Gallrein echoed the criticism in an interview with Fox News Digital. “My opponent, he’s running against President Trump and the agenda that has been put forward by the Republican Party,” Gallrein said.

Massie pushed back, saying Trump’s endorsement was not an insurmountable challenge because of support among conservative grassroots voters. “I’ve got the groundswell here, like my events. I’ve got 100–200, sometimes 300 people show up,” Massie told Fox News Digital. “My opponent had to cancel events because he couldn’t get enough people, you know, to fill up a Dairy Queen, half a Dairy Queen.”

Massie also said Pentagon Secretary Pete Hegseth’s decision to campaign for Gallrein on Monday showed that Trump’s operation believed Massie was leading in the polls. “They wouldn’t be sending the Secretary of War to my congressional district if I weren’t,” he added.

Trump personally campaigned against Massie in the solidly Republican district in March, calling him “disloyal” to the Republican Party and the United States.

Massie, a libertarian-minded lawmaker, was one of a handful of Republicans to vote against Trump’s tax cut and spending law, citing its impact on budget deficits. He also helped push legislation requiring the Department of Justice to release the Epstein files over White House objections.

More recently, Massie has emerged as one of the strongest Republican critics of Trump’s war with Iran and has voted with Democrats to limit the military campaign. His votes against military aid to Israel and resolutions denouncing antisemitism drew pro-Israel donors aligned with Trump into the race.

“Here’s the thing, I’ve got nothing against Israel. I just have never voted for foreign aid,” Massie told Fox News Digital. “When I said America First, I meant it. I don’t vote for foreign aid to Egypt, to Syria, to Ukraine. I’ve got a flawless record on this, and I’m not going to ruin it by sending foreign aid to one country.”

The Kentucky contest follows a series of GOP primaries in which Trump’s endorsement proved decisive. Earlier in May, the president celebrated the defeat of five Indiana Republican lawmakers who blocked efforts to redraw the state’s congressional map. On Saturday, Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., was shut out of the runoff for a third Senate term after voting to convict Trump following his second impeachment in January 2021.

Massie had fended off primary challengers in 2022 and 2024, but Gallrein posed the strongest challenge since Massie first won election to the House in 2012. Gallrein is expected to win the general election easily in the deep-red district.