President Trump put his political muscle on the line.
Washington awaited the outcome of this fight.
And the message Trump sent to every Republican just turned DC upside down.
As Conservative Reboot reports:
Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie lost his primary to Trump-backed challenger Ed Gallrein 54-45.
Massie served in Congress for 13 years, where even the likes of Mark Levin lauded Massie as “the most conservative” member of the House GOP caucus.
But beginning in 2024, Massie began opposing Trump.
Massie endorsed Ron DeSantis for President and then refused to back Trump even after Trump clinched the nomination and was running against Kamala Harris.
Massie’s fatal mistake was voting against President Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill last year.
The bill made President Trump’s tax cuts permanent and funded mass deportations, but it passed by only one vote.
Last July, President Trump made it clear he was looking for a challenger to run against Massie in the primary.
“He’s going to have an opponent,” Trump said to reporters on a flight aboard Air Force One r. “He’s going to have a big opponent, a good opponent, who’s going to win. A poll just came out, and it showed that if I endorse anybody against Massie, Massie loses by 25 points. So he’s gonna be history, I think.
“I just don’t think he does a good job for the country. He’s always a no. I call him ‘Rand Paul Junior,’” Trump added. “He’s always a no. Nothing constructive at all, at all, I mean, just terrible. Thomas Massie from Kentucky, and nothing constructive. I don’t think he’s a very smart guy.”
Gallerin won easily, and Trump’s political operation wanted the story out that this primary was about sending a message that Trump controls the Republican Party and rebellions won’t be tolerated.
“It’s not a retribution campaign, it’s a send-a-message campaign,” a Senior White House adviser told CNN’s Kristen Holmes. “It’s about reminding people of the political power. It’s not about retribution. This is basic political management of a party. You have to keep everybody on the reservation. Occasionally, you have to shoot a hostage. The next one is Thomas Massie.”
Trump previously ousted RINO Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy over Cassidy’s vote to convict him in the January 6 impeachment hoax, as well as Indiana state senators who blocked his push to draw a new GOP-friendly Congressional map.
On the night Massie went down to defeat, Trump opponents like Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, Raffensperger’s aide Gabriel Sterling, and Attorney General Chris Carr all lost primaries after attacking President Trump for pointing out that Democrats stole the 2020 election.
Trump showed this is still his Republican Party, and every Republican running for office got that message loud and clear.