The lack of support among House GOP leaders is a reflection of months of mounting frustration with the Kentucky Republican as he\u2019s personally antagonized both the speaker and president in a series of fights \u2013 most recently in trying to force a vote on a bill to release the Epstein files over intense opposition from Johnson and the White House. Massie needs the support of just five other Republicans \u2013 along with all Democrats \u2013 to put the bill on the floor, but he remains two GOP signatures short.<\/p>\n
Trump and his team are still searching for a candidate who can go toe-to-toe with the 54-year-old Massie, who has burnished a brand of a party maverick not afraid to break from his leadership and the president of his own party \u2013 namely on issues of government spending and budget deficits. But Trump views Massie as a deeply disloyal actor in a party where he demands unflinching support.<\/p>\n
Trump has met with state Sen. Aaron Reed, who has privately expressed interest in a primary challenge against Massie, according to three sources familiar with the meeting from earlier this summer. But Trump still has yet to signal he\u2019d endorse Reed, a former Navy SEAL who is staunchly conservative, as the presiden\u2019ts team is weighing other potential challengers ahead of the January 9 candidate filing deadline, according to the sources. (Reed did not respond to requests for comment.)<\/p>\n
But Trump allies fully expect the president to put his muscle behind a candidate after his outside group pummels Massie with millions in attack ads.<\/p>\n
In an interview, Massie brushed off the attacks and voiced confidence in his reelection chances. He pushed back on the criticism from the speaker as he defended his push for the government\u2019s files on Epstein\u2019s sex trafficking case, citing broad support based on public opinion polls. And he claimed that Trump was trying to spare some of his allies and donors from \u201cembarrassment\u201d by shielding the files.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe speaker\u2019s position depends on him rubber stamping, not just rubber stamping, but reinforcing anything Donald Trump wants, even if Donald Trump is wrong,\u201d Massie said. \u201cSo the speaker\u2019s in a tough spot.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cI don\u2019t see that I\u2019m making their life hard at all, unless they think it\u2019s hard, because they\u2019re going to have to take a vote to put them on record. If that\u2019s hard, I\u2019m sorry, that\u2019s your job.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump and his political advisers are girding for a blockbuster primary fight next year. A pro-Trump super PAC called \u201cMAGA Kentucky\u201d has reserved $1.6 million in ads this summer, according to AdImpact data reviewed by CNN. The group is being led by Chris LaCivita, Trump\u2019s 2024 campaign co-manager, and pollster Tony Fabrizio.<\/p>\n
And there could be a lot more anti-Massie money to come. Pro-Israel groups like AIPAC also plan to spend big to oust Massie, who has a long history of voting against US support for Israel, according to a person familiar with the plans.<\/p>\n
With the May primary still months away, Massie has yet to spend much on air, having spent just $418,000 on ads this year. Whether he gets some outside help \u2013 including from the world\u2019s richest person, Elon Musk, who posted on X in June that he\u2019d help Massie as he was railing against Trump\u2019s One Big Beautiful Bill Act \u2013 remains to be seen.<\/p>\n
In his more than a dozen years in Congress, Massie has never been a leadership loyalist, opposing plenty of party priorities on the floor under several GOP speakers \u2013 and even unsuccessfully sought to oust Johnson from the speakership last year.<\/p>\n
But his standing within the party has shifted recently, and many Republicans privately argue that he has become more of an agitator to Trump and leadership, according to multiple lawmakers and senior aides. He retains staunch support from fellow conservatives like Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who also voted against Trump\u2019s megabill earlier this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a big supporter of Thomas Massie,\u201d Paul told reporters in July, according to the Louisville Courier Journal. \u201cHe\u2019s a man of principle who votes against the deficit like I do, whether it\u2019s Republicans proposing spending or Democrats.\u201d<\/p>\n
Within the House GOP, Massie has won over some key Trump allies like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who is forcefully backing his push to release the Epstein files and has personally spoken to the president about the importance of the matter.<\/p>\n Even so, other GOP colleagues working with Massie on the Epstein push said they wished he\u2019d taken a different approach with Trump.<\/p>\n \u201cI will tell you that I like Thomas on a lot of positions,\u201d said Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a Florida Republican who has long demanded the Epstein files be released but has yet to sign onto Massie\u2019s push to force a vote in defiance of the White House. \u201cBut I think that the way that this has kind of flushed out between his personal relationship with the president is unfortunate to see unfold.\u201d<\/p>\n Luna declined to say whether she\u2019d back Massie\u2019s reelection.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a way that you can debate and disagree with people, but the moment that you get personal and the moment that you start doing things for reasons other than what you\u2019re telling the public, I think that kind of crosses the Rubicon,\u201d Luna said. \u201cThere\u2019s no turning back from that.\u201d<\/p>\n Rep. Jeff Van Drew, a New Jersey Republican who has supported Massie\u2019s bill but said he will not go against his own leadership to force a floor vote, said he wished his colleague had made it a \u201cless confrontational\u201d issue.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t make that choice. He did,\u201d Van Drew said. \u201cHe has chosen his bed. Now he\u2019s gotta lie in it.\u201d<\/p>\n Massie has fended off every previous challenger in his district, a fiercely independent, deeply conservative stretch of Northeastern Kentucky that is known to local political operatives as the \u201cWild West\u201d of the state. It\u2019s also an extremely expensive district for anyone running for office: It\u2019s split into four media markets in three different states. Still, senior Republicans believe Massie could be vulnerable given the right candidate.<\/p>\n \u201cI would not underestimate the president\u2019s grip on the base,\u201d said one senior House GOP lawmaker, speaking on condition of anonymity to freely discuss a colleague\u2019s political future. But the member said they still need a Republican there who can win: \u201cThat\u2019s a problem. The candidate matters. Ultimately, it\u2019s not a plebiscite. It\u2019s an election, right? It\u2019s not \u2013 do you like this person or not?\u201d<\/p>\n Massie would not be the first Republican targeted for defeat by Trump. Last March, then-Rep. Bob Good of Virginia was\u00a0ousted in an ugly primary\u00a0after sparring with GOP leadership and backing Trump\u2019s opponent, Ron DeSantis, in the 2024 presidential primary.<\/p>\n Some Republicans believe the Massie vs. MAGA primary will be even nastier, given the Kentucky congressman\u2019s repeated votes against Trump priorities \u2014 including his signature tax and spending cuts bill \u2014 and his disparagement over Trump\u2019s handling of Epstein.<\/p>\n On the leadership level, top Republicans are typically reticent to publicly criticize their own members. But some, like House GOP Conference Chair Lisa McClain, struck a note of disappointment about Massie\u2019s rogue push to defy Johnson over the Epstein vote.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s challenged us, and disagreement is not disloyalty. \u2026 But at the end of the day, when we decide to call a play, we\u2019ve got to run the play the coach calls,\u201d McClain said.<\/p>\n As for his reelection, McClain said leadership tends not to get involved in primaries and stressed she simply wants to keep the GOP majority.<\/p>\n \u201cWhoever is going to stay in that seat and keep that majority, that\u2019s what I want, right?\u201d McClain said. \u201cIf Thomas Massie is the best person to do that, then absolutely, I want him to do that, right? I also think it\u2019s up to his voters to decide, not necessarily for me.\u201d<\/p>\n House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, the No. 3 Republican, said it was up to Massie to figure out his own reelection bid.<\/p>\n \u201cI work with every single member of our team,\u201d Emmer told CNN when asked about how party leaders would handle the White House\u2019s efforts to oust Massie. \u201cI have to work through their relationships with each other. I have to work through their relationships with their constituents. I leave all of our members to take care of their own business, both in the policy arena and in the campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n Rep. Richard Hudson, the House GOP\u2019s campaign chief, signaled he was staying away from the internal feud as well.<\/p>\n \u201cMy focus is on beating Democrats,\u201d Hudson said. \u201cI don\u2019t get involved in primaries.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked about GOP leaders\u2019 views about his race, Massie shrugged it off.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought about this yesterday in our press conference with the survivors,\u201d Massie said, referring to an emotional, 90-minute event where nearly a dozen women spoke about how Epstein abused them when they were children. \u201cMy life is difficult in a political sense, but they\u2019re living a nightmare of shame. I think it\u2019s kind of petty for me to complain about some political race that I have to be in when there are other people who are making much greater sacrifices.\u201d<\/p>\n CNN\u2019s Steve Contorno, Alison Main, David Wright and Casey Riddle contributed to this report.<\/p>\n For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at\u00a0CNN.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" President Donald Trump\u00a0and his top political advisers are plotting an aggressive push to oust one of his most<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1712,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-us"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1711"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1711\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1713,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1711\/revisions\/1713"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Massie vs. MAGA<\/h3>\n
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