{"id":1973,"date":"2026-05-20T00:44:53","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T00:44:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/2026\/05\/20\/trump-critic-thomas-massie-defeated-in-kentucky-republican-house-primary\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T00:44:53","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T00:44:53","slug":"trump-critic-thomas-massie-defeated-in-kentucky-republican-house-primary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/?p=1973","title":{"rendered":"Trump critic Thomas Massie defeated in Kentucky Republican House primary"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"border-color:var(--article-border);background-color:var(--article-inner-background)\" class=\"dcr-wqti5a\">\n<div class=\"dcr-2zxs1v\">\n<div style=\"--grid-area:media\" data-gu-name=\"media\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-14emo0l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-tr9ye5\">\n<figure id=\"96833b9d-cd8c-412a-b004-c0a31d8c63d4\" class=\"dcr-142siv7\">\n<div id=\"img-1\" class=\"dcr-1t8m8f2\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Man speaks at podium\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/ec1d6d260c669b48098e84b25037608dc9ac5268\/395_0_4018_3214\/master\/4018.jpg?width=465&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"465\" height=\"371.95370831259333\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"dcr-evn1e9\"><span class=\"dcr-v822l1\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-gup2gr\">\n<div class=\"dcr-fntg6k\"><label for=\"the-checkbox\" class=\"dcr-1xgwz8b\"><\/label> <\/p>\n<div id=\"the-caption\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1os51wo\"><span class=\"dcr-hvsf4t\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Thomas Massie speaks in Hebron, Kentucky, after losing his primary race to Ed Gallrein.<\/span> Photograph: Carolyn Kaster\/AP<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><a href=\"#img-1\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-13fd1ms\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"96833b9d-cd8c-412a-b004-c0a31d8c63d4\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-4tmywn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-194i6pr\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"dcr-n4pnam\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1hdkqum\"><span class=\"dcr-hvsf4t\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Thomas Massie speaks in Hebron, Kentucky, after losing his primary race to Ed Gallrein.<\/span> Photograph: Carolyn Kaster\/AP<\/figcaption><\/span><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:border\" data-gu-name=\"border\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:headline\" data-gu-name=\"headline\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-14emo0l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1aqe7zu\">\n<h1 class=\"dcr-1k1a1x\">Trump critic Thomas Massie defeated in Kentucky Republican House primary<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:standfirst\" data-gu-name=\"standfirst\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-15in7js\">\n<p>Massie says opponents \u2018decided to buy the seat\u2019 as victory for Ed Gallrein shows strength of president\u2019s grip on party<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/live\/2026\/may\/19\/donald-trump-primaries-midterms-republicans-kentucky-thomas-massie-pennsylvania-georgia-alabama-oregon-idaho-latest-news-updates#top-of-blog\" data-link-name=\"in standfirst link\">Midterm primaries \u2013 live updates<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:body\" data-gu-name=\"body\" class=\"dcr-kn9unn\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1a4fred\">\n<div id=\"maincontent\" class=\"dcr-ydnaza\">\n<div class=\"article-body-commercial-selector article-body-viewer-selector dcr-1c9t5u6\">\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Donald Trump displayed his supremacy over the Republican party on Tuesday when voters in northern Kentucky rejected the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/may\/16\/kentucky-republican-primary-election-massie-gallrein\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">maverick congressman Thomas Massie<\/a> in favour of the US president\u2019s hand-picked challenger.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Ed Gallrein, a retired Navy Seal and farmer who was recruited into the race by Trump, defeated the seven-term incumbent in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/may\/16\/kentucky-republican-primary-election-massie-gallrein\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">primary election in Kentucky\u2019s fourth congressional district<\/a> in what the president\u2019s allies framed as a test of whether dissent could still exist inside today\u2019s Republican party.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The election took place as voters in five other states \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/pennsylvania\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Pennsylvania<\/a>, Georgia, Alabama, Oregon and Idaho \u2013 went to the polls to decide their nominees for the November general election, in what was the biggest primary night of the year so far. Earlier on Tuesday, Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/may\/19\/trump-endorses-republican-ken-paxton-senate\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">endorsed Ken Paxton<\/a>, the scandal-plagued Texas attorney general running for Senate, in a primary runoff against incumbent John Cornyn, infuriating some in his party.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">In Kentucky, Massie now joins the ranks of Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, Jeff Flake, Mitt Romney and other elected <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/republicans\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">Republicans<\/a> who were either ousted or decided to retire because of their party\u2019s capitulation to Trump.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Over the weekend, Senator Bill Cassidy, who voted in favour of Trump\u2019s conviction after the 6 January insurrection, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/may\/17\/republican-louisiana-senator-bill-cassidy-results-primary-trump\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">lost a primary<\/a> in Louisiana after the president backed challenger Julia Letlow.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Massie, a libertarian-minded conservative, repeatedly broke with the president over military action against Iran, government spending and the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files. He spent months insisting that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/kentucky\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">Kentucky<\/a> Republicans valued independence over obedience. Instead, voters in the deeply conservative fourth congressional district appeared to conclude that loyalty to Trump mattered more.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">For months Trump had treated the contest as a personal vendetta.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">He branded Massie a \u201cmoron\u201d, a \u201cnut job\u201d and a \u201closer\u201d, dispatched top advisers Chris LaCivita and Tony Fabrizio to run a super political action committee against him, and even travelled to Kentucky himself for a rally denouncing the congressman as \u201cdisloyal to the United States of America\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Speaking to supporters on Tuesday evening, Massie said he had called Gallrein to concede.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cWe\u2019ve been honorable the whole time and we\u2019re going to stay that way,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Gallrein campaigned almost entirely as a loyal foot soldier for the president\u2019s agenda. He accused Massie of suffering from \u201cTrump derangement syndrome\u201d and pledged to \u201cstand shoulder to shoulder\u201d with the White House.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The Hill website reported that Kentucky\u2019s fourth congressional district became the most expensive House primary battle in history, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/05\/11\/thomas-massie-ed-gallrein-kentucky-aipac-trump\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">citing figures from AdImpact<\/a> that showed spending of $25.6m in television, radio and digital advertising.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cIt\u2019s not just the most expensive. This thing went on longer than Vietnam,\u201d Massie said. \u201cWhy did this race get so expensive? Because they decided to buy the seat.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Gallrein portrayed Massie as a politician who had drifted from Trump\u2019s Make America Great Again movement despite benefiting from it politically for years. Maga Kentucky, the Super Pac backing Gallrein, flooded the district with attack ads accusing Massie of siding with Democrats and obstructing the president\u2019s agenda.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Massie argued he was defending the very principles Trump once championed \u2013 opposition to endless wars, runaway deficits and government secrecy. But his message increasingly struggled to compete against the emotional force of Trump\u2019s endorsement in the sprawling district, which stretches from Cincinnati\u2019s southern suburbs to the Appalachian foothills.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Gallrein will now enter the general election as overwhelming favourite in a district that has not elected a Democrat in two decades.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Meanwhile, Trump-backed representative Andy Barr easily won a contested Republican primary for Senate in Kentucky to replace the long-serving former Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, who is retiring.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" class=\"dcr-qxqnsy\"><span class=\"dcr-1rq3vad\">Explore more on these topics<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-1dzx48f\">\n<ul class=\"dcr-1rrvs2w\">\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/republicans\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Republicans<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/kentucky\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Kentucky<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/us-politics\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">US politics<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/donaldtrump\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Donald Trump<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/us-midterm-elections-2026\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">US midterm elections 2026<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/house-of-representatives\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">House of Representatives<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/tone\/news\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">news<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-nu129i\"><a href=\"mailto:?subject=Trump%20critic%20Thomas%20Massie%20defeated%20in%20Kentucky%20Republican%20House%20primary&amp;body=https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/may\/19\/kentucky-republican-primary-trump-massie?CMP=share_btn_url\" class=\"dcr-125qj9d\">Share<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-zhx6xs\"><a data-link-name=\"meta-syndication-article\" href=\"https:\/\/syndication.theguardian.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fus-news%2F2026%2Fmay%2F19%2Fkentucky-republican-primary-trump-massie&amp;type=article&amp;internalpagecode=us-news\/2026\/may\/19\/kentucky-republican-primary-trump-massie\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" title=\"Reuse this content\" class=\"dcr-14rjinq\">Reuse this content<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:right-column\" data-gu-name=\"right-column\" class=\"dcr-1h2hraq\">\n<div class=\"dcr-tn16h9\">\n<section class=\"dcr-1hko8ef\"><\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Thomas Massie speaks in Hebron, Kentucky, after losing his primary race to Ed Gallrein. Photograph: Carolyn Kaster\/AP View<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1975,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1973"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1973\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}