President Donald Trump spent the weekend sharpening his attacks on Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., ahead of Tuesday’s Republican primary in Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District. Massie answered by accusing outside billionaires and pro-Israel groups of trying to “buy a seat” in Congress.
The race has drawn more than $25 million in advertising and now stands as the most expensive House primary on record, according to AdImpact.
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Massie, a seven-term Kentucky Republican who has repeatedly broken with Trump during his second term, is facing former Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein, the Trump-backed candidate who entered the race shortly after receiving encouragement from the president last year.
On ABC’s “This Week,” Massie framed the contest around the flood of outside money pouring into Kentucky.
“How did this race become the most expensive race in the history of Congress for a primary?” Massie said. “It’s because three billionaires from outside of Kentucky have funneled millions of dollars in here. They’re trying to buy a seat.”
Massie also singled out major Republican donors and pro-Israel political groups backing Gallrein, naming Miriam Adelson, Paul Singer, the Republican Jewish Coalition and AIPAC.
“That’s where all the money comes from,” Massie said. “I’m the one they haven’t been able to bully.”
ABC News reports that groups connected to the Republican Jewish Coalition and AIPAC have spent millions supporting Gallrein.
Trump steps up attacks
Trump responded with a series of social media posts over the weekend, calling Massie “the worst and most unreliable Republican Congressman in the history of our Country” and urging Kentucky Republicans to remove him from office.
“Vote the bum out on Tuesday,” Trump wrote Sunday on Truth Social.
“You can tell that I’m ahead in the polls and they’re desperate,” Massie said on ABC. “That’s why they’re sending the Secretary of War to my district tomorrow. That’s why the president is losing sleep and tweeting about this.”
Massie was referring to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who will visit Hebron, Kentucky, later Monday to campaign with Gallrein at an America First Works event.
Massie is not the only Republican lawmaker Trump has targeted. Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana lost his primary race over the weekend after years of conflict with the president following Cassidy’s vote to convict Trump after the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.
Trump celebrated Cassidy’s loss online before returning his focus to Kentucky, calling Massie “very disloyal” and later a “major sleazebag.”
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham told NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday, “You can disagree with Trump but if you try to destroy him, you’re going to lose because this is the party of Donald Trump.”
Money floods Kentucky race
Massie and allied groups have spent millions defending the seat, while Trump-aligned organizations and pro-Gallrein groups have saturated Kentucky’s 4th District with television, radio and digital ads.
The campaign has also grown increasingly personal. One pro-Gallrein ad used AI-generated imagery showing Massie alongside progressive Democratic lawmakers Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar. Pro-Massie groups responded with ads attacking Gallrein’s conservative credentials and his ties to outside donors.
Recent polling has shown a close race, with a Quantus Insights survey putting Gallrein ahead of Massie by roughly five points heading into Tuesday’s primary.
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