President Donald Trump took his battle with Rep. Thomas Massie to the Kentucky Republican’s home turf on Wednesday, holding a spiteful rally in his district while promising to use every tool in his arsenal to unseat the libertarian-minded congressman.
“Massie, he’s the worst. He goes against everything,” Trump told a cheering crowd. “Massie is a complete and total disaster as a congressman and, frankly, as a human being.”
In the nearly two-hour address, Trump hit on a number of topics — but returned often to his acrimony toward Massie, who has defied him on a number of issues in recent months.
Massie has voted against Trump’s domestic policy agenda, supported the release of the Epstein files and criticized the president’s social media posts.
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“I said, just give me a warm body to replace Massie,” Trump said alongside his chosen candidate, Ed Gallrein, a former Navy SEAL and farmer running in the Republican primary against Massie.
“I got somebody with a warm body but a big, beautiful brain, a great patriot. He’s unbelievable,” he added of Gallrein.“I’m going to use him in an ad.”
Gallrein is the only Republican currently in the primary race, scheduled for May 19, to unseat Massie. Democrats running in the primary include Boone County Commissioner Jesse Brewer and Melissa Strange, a supply-chain professional.
Trump appeared in Kentucky on Wednesday as part of a two-day tour across the Midwest to push his economic message. But circumstances have thrown a wrench into Trump’s plans — gas prices across the country have steadily increased for 11 straight days after he announced the U.S. had initiated a war with Iran.
Speaking briefly at the event, Gallrein also attacked Massie for siding with Democrats on issues ranging from the Epstein files to the Affordable Care Act.
Massie has frequently broken with Republican leadership on spending legislation. Last year, he also worked with Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna to push legislation forcing the release of Department of Justice files related to the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“You deserve an authentic, true Republican conservative that stands shoulder to shoulder with our president and the Republican Party and against the Democrats that are trying to destroy our nation,” Gillrein said before starting a “USA” chant.
“I hope the fake news gets this,” Gillrein added. “Tom Massie stands with the ladies of ‘The View,’ Mr. President, we stand with you. Fight! Fight! Fight!”
The pressure on Massie to support Trump’s agenda has grown more intense in recent weeks, as a historic number of retirements has left Republicans with a razor-thin one-seat majority.
“We got to get rid of this loser,” Trump said of Massie. “He’s disloyal to the Republican Party, he’s disloyal to the people of Kentucky, and most importantly he is disloyal to the United States of America.”
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