U.S. President Donald Trump and pro-Israel groups scored a major victory Tuesday after Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky lost his Republican primary to Ed Gallrein, a former Navy SEAL backed by the president.
The result marked a sharp warning to Republicans who break with Trump and a major win for AIPAC and other pro-Israel organizations, which spent heavily to defeat one of the few GOP lawmakers who consistently opposed U.S. military aid to Israel.
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Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, US President Donald Trump
(Photo: Luke Johnson / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP, REUTERS / Jonathan Ernst)
Massie, a libertarian-leaning Republican who has served in Congress since 2012, had repeatedly clashed with Trump over foreign policy, the release of Justice Department files related to Jeffrey Epstein and the president’s legislative agenda. Trump had urged Kentucky Republicans to oust him, calling him the “worst Republican congressman in history.”
The race became the most expensive House primary in U.S. history, with more than $32 million in ad spending, much of it driven by outside pro-Israel groups. AIPAC’s United Democracy Project called Massie “the most anti-Israel Republican in the House.”
Massie had framed the contest as a referendum on Israel’s influence in Washington, accusing pro-Israel donors of trying to “buy seats in Congress.” He denied being antisemitic and said he opposed efforts to equate criticism of Israeli policy with antisemitism.
His defeat underscored Trump’s grip on Republican primary voters and followed the primary loss of another Trump critic, Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana. But it also highlighted a broader struggle inside the GOP over Israel, as younger conservatives have grown more skeptical of U.S. support for the country.
Gallrein, a farmer and former Navy SEAL, will now be heavily favored in the deeply Republican Kentucky district.