FRANKFORT, Kentucky — Congressman Thomas Massie, one of the most vocal Republican critics of Donald Trump, has lost his fight for re-election to a challenger endorsed by the president in the Kentucky primaryon Tuesday.Ed Gallrein, a former Navy Seal handpicked by Trump to oust the incumbent, will now compete in November’s midterm election, affirming yet again the president’s power over his party.The contest, the most expensive primary in the history of the House of Representatives, had been widely seen as a key test of President Trump’s decade-long grip on the Republican Party.The result showed the president’s persisting influence over GOP voters and added to a growing number of Trump-backed primary challengers to defeat Republican lawmakers who angered him in his second term, including Sen. Bill Cassidy in Louisiana and several Indiana state senators who defied him on redistricting.Trump repeatedly called for voters to back Gallrein over the incumbent Massie, who he described as a “major sleazebag” and “the worst Republican congressman in history”.Massie, who has been in office since 2012, publicly broke with Trump by voting against his “big, beautiful” tax and spending bill last year over concerns about the national debt. He has also voted to curtail Trump’s attacks on suspected drug boats in the Caribbean and his ongoing war in Iran.Massie also joined with Democrats, and a handful of Republicans, to force Trump’s Department of Justice to release all of its files on Jeffrey Epstein.He lost by 55 percent to 45 percent in the vote on Tuesday, marking a major victory for Trump.In the evening, after the primary result was known, Massie took the stage before a fired-up crowd that cheered and chanted throughout his speech, including slogans such as “no more wars” and “America First!”“We stirred up something. There is a yearning in this country for someone who will vote for principles over party,” Massie said.He also criticized unwavering fealty to Trump in Congress: “If the legislative branch always votes whichever way the wind is blowing, then we have mob rule,” he said. But if lawmakers follow the constitution, “we have a Republic.Gallrein delivered a shorter, more muted speech at his victory party in Covington, where he first thanked Trump for his support and leadership.Gallrein ran on his military service and loyalty to the president and accused Massie of forsaking Trump and the party. He is expected to win the general election against Democrat Melissa Strange in the deeply red district.The president visited Kentucky to boost Gallrein in March.The primary turned white hot in the final stretch of the campaign as Massie recruited a phalanx of other Republicans, including Rep. Lauren Boebert, in an attempt to show voters that they could support both him and Trump. Trump ratcheted up his social media attacks on Massie, calling him “an obstructionist and a fool,” and Gallrein shared a stage with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday.Also Tuesday, Republicans statewide chose US Rep. Andy Barr as their nominee to replace Mitch McConnell, the longtime US Senate leader. In a contest representing a generational changing of the guard for the party, Barr, who was endorsed by Trump, bested Daniel Cameron, a former state attorney general who leaned into his Christianity on the campaign trail.
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