Trump posts support for Massie primary challenger ahead of Kentucky visit
President Donald Trump, who is backing challenger Ed Gallrein over incumbent GOP Rep. Thomas Massie in Kentucky's 4th Congressional District Republican primary, highlighted his endorsement again on Tuesday ahead of his planned Wednesday visit to the Bluegrass State.
Trump then followed that up by targeting Massie again in a Wednesday morning Truth Social post.
"I predict that 'Representative'Thomas Massie will go down as the WORST Republican Congressman in the long and fabled history of the United States Congress, even worse than Crazy Liz Chaney, Cryin’ Adam Kinzinger, and Marjorie ‘Traitor’ Brown (Remember, Green turns to Brown under stress!). They are all misfits and losers, but Massie, who is running against a great American Patriot in the Kentucky Primary, will hopefully lose BIG. I LOVE KENTUCKY!!!" the president declared in the Wednesday morning Truth Social post.
In a text message to Fox News Digital, Massie wrote, "It was actually Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger who teamed up with Trump in March of 2020 to try and defeat me."
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In a post on X, Massie wrote, "I predict ‘President’ DJT will begrudgingly sign my beautiful Epstein Files Transparency Act, causing beleaguered princes and ambassadors and prime ministers and CEOs around the world to be arrested or resign in total shame. Oh wait, that already happened."
The president had declared in part of a Truth Social post on Tuesday, "Captain Ed Gallrein has my Complete and Total Endorsement against ‘Congressman’ Thomas Massie — He only votes AGAINST the Republican Party, making life very easy for the Radical Left. Unlike ‘lightweight’ Congressman Massie, a true hater of Israel, and a totally ineffective LOSER who has failed us so badly, CAPTAIN ED GALLREIN IS A WINNER WHO WILL NOT LET KENTUCKY DOWN!"
"Someone’s upset to learn Woke Eddie left the Republican Party when Trump won the nomination! Here’s today’s Truth Social post. It’s just a copy and paste from several months ago. Says Ed ‘filed today,’ which isn’t even possible since the filing deadline passed in January," Massie wrote in a Tuesday post on X.
Massie on Tuesday posted a document on X that he said was Gallrein's voter registration card — the document shows Gallrein registering as an independent in May 2016.
"Here’s Ed’s Voter Registration card documenting when he abandoned the GOP to protest Trump securing the nomination just days before," Massie wrote in the post.
In a text message to Fox News Digital on Wednesday morning, Massie said of Trump's Tuesday post, "His Truth Social post was recycled from months ago, but our ad is brand new. We’ll be running the ad in this X post on TV and radio today," Massie wrote, pointing to a post that features a campaign ad attacking Gallrein over his party affiliation history.
Massie's campaign ad claims that Gallrein switched his registration back to the Republican Party in 2021.
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"I was proud to vote for President Trump all three times and donate in 2020 and 2024, unlike Thomas Massie who campaigned against him in 2024 and sides with the Democrats to vote against President Trump every week in Congress," Gallrein said in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital.
Trump is slated to appear at an event in Hebron, Kentucky, on Wednesday.
A Tuesday post on Gallrein's X account said, "President Donald Trump is coming to Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District this Wednesday to support Ed Gallrein for Congress."
When asked about the visit, White House spokeswoman Liz Huston told Fox News Digital, "President Trump will visit the great states of Ohio and Kentucky on Wednesday to tout his economic victories and detail his Administration’s aggressive, ongoing efforts to lower prices and make America more affordable."
In a text message to Fox News Digital on Wednesday morning, Massie wrote, "I have other previously scheduled events in the district today, including a visit to two public schools that are about 3 hours from the President’s speech."
Fox News Digital's Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report