President Donald Trump proved Tuesday night that he still has the juice to shape Republican primaries, helping oust longtime incumbent Rep. Thomas Massie in Kentucky’s 4th District and carrying Rep. Andy Barr over the finish line in the Kentucky Senate primary.
However, the Trump-backed candidate in the Georgia gubernatorial race finished in second place and will advance to a runoff.
Massie, who has represented Kentucky’s 4th District since 2012, was the race everyone was watching last night. The libertarian-minded congressman has been a thorn in Trump’s side over the past year and a half, hitting him on everything from the Epstein files to the war in Iran and the national debt. Trump backed an outside challenger, former Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein, and the president’s allies — and AIPAC — dumped tons of money into the race.
Warning signs were on the horizon over the weekend as I got word from Kentucky sources that Massie’s ground game was severely lacking and the campaign was starting to get nervous.
Sure enough, Massie was ousted by about ten points. The outgoing congressman quipped during his concession speech that he “would have come out sooner but I had to call my opponent to concede and it took a while in Tel Aviv.”
Other Republican incumbents who have been pushed out by Trump over the past decade were more obvious. Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, who finished third in his recent primary, previously voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial. Former Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, meanwhile, voted to impeach him in the House.
Massie presented a unique challenge to Trump, as his criticism mostly came from the president’s right flank. Earlier this year, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who similarly accused Trump of not being ‘America First,’ announced she would resign from Congress after Trump threatened to back a primary challenger.
Will the president next go after those who supported Massie against his wishes, like Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert?
Adding to Tuesday night’s chaos were the results in the Kentucky Senate primary, the Georgia gubernatorial primary, and a shock endorsement from Trump.
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