Is Thomas Massie vulnerable to a Trump-backed challenger? Northern KYians weigh in
But will it work?
It's an open question for Northern Kentucky Republicans, who are anticipating a GOP primary challenger to step up and get the support — both rhetorical and monetary — of Trump and his network.
The president has promised to 'be out in Kentucky campaigning really hard' against Massie, lambasting the congressman as 'lazy,' disloyal and 'nonproductive.'
'He votes, 'NO!' on everything, because he thinks it makes him cool, but he's not cool, he's a LOSER,' Trump wrote on social media earlier this week.
A political action committee, 'MAGA KY,' has been set up specifically to beat Massie in 2026, with members of the Trump network ready to lead the charge.
No candidate has been publicly tapped by the president or his network as of yet.
Dating back to Trump's first term, the president's feud with Massie is nothing new — it's notable, though, that the president has endorsed him as recently as 2022 — but it's reached a fever pitch in the last few months.
Massie was one of the lone Republicans to stand against Trump's budget bill on the grounds that it spent too much, and the 4th Congressional District representative's opposition to the Trump administration's actions in Iran resulted in Trump's most recent tirade.
If voters like Charlie Coleman, a former local elected official in Campbell County, are any indication, then Massie might be in trouble.
Coleman has supported Massie in several previous election cycles, even visiting the congressman's farm to pick up yard signs in 2020. Now, he says he's likely to support a primary challenger if the challenger gets the president's backing.
'I like Thomas personally, but I'm not supporting his position,' Coleman said. 'To be a part of a team, you gotta follow your leadership. I support the president, and I wish Thomas did.'
But few think Massie will be a pushover, even if he draws Trump's full firepower.
The congressman and his allies think his brand in the district — and among a nationwide group of grassroots donors — is strong enough to weather the storm.
Massie told the Herald-Leader earlier this week that his name ID among GOP voters in the district is in the mid-70s, a pretty high mark for a congressman.
He didn't discount Trump's popularity in the district, but said it would be tough to erode his own support among voters who already know him and, based on his electoral results, like him.
'If I were running against Donald Trump, I'd be in trouble. It'd be a fair fight and he might even have the upper hand,' Massie told the Herald-Leader. 'The thing is, I'm not running against Donald Trump, and Donald Trump, Jr. and Eric Trump aren't moving to the district I'm running (in).
'I'm going to be running against somebody nobody's ever heard of, and I've got enough name ID and brand right now that somebody's gonna have to work really hard to erode that.'
State Rep. Savannah Maddox, R-Dry Ridge, is among Massie's closest allies in Frankfort. She was among the first of many legislators in the state GOP's unofficial 'Liberty' wing, a group that often aligns with and receives political support from Massie.
She thinks the type of voter that Coleman represents is off base.
The more common reaction to the latest in the long-running tiff between Trump and Massie, she said, is like that of someone watching two friends fight. While they still love both of their friends, they think one of them is in the right.
'Folks will say, 'I love our president, but he's wrong about Thomas Massie,'' Maddox said. 'Overwhelmingly, I believe they support him.'
There's also the problem of finding a suitable challenger.
Maddox pointed to the most recent primary contenders who tried to run 'to the Trump' of Massie. None of them netted more than 19%, even in 2020 when Trump was the sitting president and he was upset with Massie's alleged 'grandstanding' over forcing an in-person vote during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
None of those challengers have gone on to achieve political success.
'Effectively, they are going to alienate themselves from any future aspirations they may have in this congressional district and beyond,' Maddox said. 'History is very foreboding.'
Some Democrats in the region agree that finding a challenger will prove difficult.
Marisa McNee, a Kenton County resident and former spokesperson for the Kentucky Democratic Party, said that there's a coalition issue: The Republican Party in the region is still split between more establishment Republicans who don't actually like Trump, or Massie and Trump supporters who, by and large, support Massie.
She referred to those 'establishment,' largely business-oriented Republicans as 'chamber Republicans' after the chamber of commerce.
'The chamber Republicans are deeply hated by MAGA world. They're just not aligned. You'd have to find someone who's comfortable in one world and palatable to the other,' McNee said. 'That's the game they're trying to play, and that's why it's tricky.'
That group of chamber Republicans has largely disliked Massie for a while, she said. But an embrace of Trump from one of their ranks would likely come across as disingenuous.
'If you hate Massie, do you like Trump? I don't know anyone who fits in that category, personally,' McNee said.
Adam Koenig, a former Northern Kentucky state representative, 'can't stand' Thomas Massie.
'He's ineffective. He's a waste of space, to be perfectly frank,' Koenig said. 'He does no constituent services. He doesn't meet with a lot of people. I believe his support is not even a mile wide, but it's definitely not an inch deep.'
Koenig served for more than a decade in the General Assembly before he was taken out in a wave of successful Massie-backed primary challengers in 2022.
He said Massie's lack of tangible accomplishments for the district might play well for an opponent.
'You'd like to think that someone could run a race on 'The man has never done anything. Where else could you get paid $180-some thousand a year and have no accomplishments but keep your job,'' Koenig said.
Speculation over who might heed Trump's call to take Massie down has abounded in the weeks since the president's first tilt with the congressman.
The two names most circulated are state Sen. Aaron Reed, R-Shelbyville, and state Rep. Kim Moser, R-Taylor Mill. Neither has responded to requests for comment from the Herald-Leader.
When national outlet Axios first floated Reed's name he responded by calling it 'fake news.'
However, the Navy Seal veteran and gun store owner has very publicly praised Trump's actions in the Middle East and interacted on social media with the same Trump-aligned consultant promising to lead the charge against Massie.
When that consultant, former Trump 2024 co-campaign manager Chris Lacivita, posted a photo of a soldier throwing a frag grenade, Reed responded 'that move looks familiar.'
Some hoping to unseat Massie think activation of more affluent suburban areas of the district like Oldham and Shelby counties outside of Louisville, where Reed is from, could serve to moderate the primary electorate.
Two prominent Oldham County politicians signaled to the Herald-Leader that they would not jump in the race: Attorney General Russell Coleman and former AG and current U.S. Senate candidate Daniel Cameron.
A Coleman spokesperson told the Herald-Leader 'he is going to serve the full term he was elected to,' which runs out in 2027. Cameron's spokesperson said he was 'focused on (the) Senate.'
Scott Jennings, a Republican public relations executive whose pundit role on CNN has catapulted him to stardom during the Trump era, has been mentioned as a possibility, though most of the chatter has centered around a potential run for U.S. Senate.
Massie believes that the most effective challenger would be a person without much a voting record, whose views on the issues are therefore more malleable and less easy to pin down for attack ads.
Koenig did not have any prescription for a formula to bridge the worlds of 'establishment' and MAGA, but as someone who has previously been courted to run against Massie he said the money will absolutely be there.
'The money is ready for someone viewed as legit. You've just gotta find someone who's viewed as legit,' Koenig said.
Massie hinted that he could raise up to $10 million if put through the ringer of a competitive Trump-backed primary. Trump's attacks have largely boosted his grassroots fundraising, he says.
According to a post on social media, Massie raised more than $154,000 from Sunday to Wednesday and has about $1.5 million on hand.
He also mentioned super PAC money.
It's possible, some have speculated, that a Massie supporter who also happens to be the richest man in the world might help. Multi-billionaire Elon Musk has shown love for Massie on his social media platform, X, where the congressman has 1.3 million followers.
Musk, a similarly science-minded spending hawk, has had his own issues with Trump in recent weeks following a stint where he led Trump's Department of Government Efficiency. Though Musk helped power Trump's reelection with huge outside spending efforts, he announced plans to cut back on such political spending last month.
Even if there is a spending gap between Massie and his opponent, state Rep. Steven Doan, R-Erlanger, the Massie ally who unseated Koenig, thinks the money won't matter.
'People have known him for the 12 years that he's been in office and they've seen how he's fought against the party all the time; I mean, he was instrumental in taking John Boehner out as speaker' Doan said.
'And even when the whole Republican Party structure tries to clap back at Thomas, he seems to survive it.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hill
27 minutes ago
- The Hill
GOP senator on DC carjacking fears: ‘I don't buckle up'
Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) on Wednesday expressed his fear of being carjacked in the nation's capital, as the Trump administration ramps up its federal takeover of local law enforcement. 'And by the way, I'm not joking when I say this, I drive around in Washington, D.C., in my Jeep, and yes, I do drive myself, and I don't buckle up. And the reason why I don't buckle up, and people can say whatever they want to, they can raise their eyebrows at me again, is because of carjacking,' Mullin said during an appearance on Fox News's 'The Ingraham Angle.' 'I don't want to be stuck in my vehicle when I need to exit in a hurry, because I got a seatbelt around me and that — and I wear my seatbelt all the time,' he told host Brian Kilmeade, in a clip highlighted by Mediaite. 'But in Washington, D.C., I do not, because it is so prevalent of carjacking,' the Oklahoma Republican continued. 'And I don't want the same thing [to] happen to me what's happened to a lot of people that work on the hill.' President Trump announced earlier this week that his administration was taking control of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) and deployed hundreds of National Guard soldiers to the area to combat crime and violence in the city. The move, sparked after a former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffer was attacked by teenagers during a carjacking — has received heavy blowback from Democrats and local officials. A provision in Washington's ' Home Rule Act ' allows the president to federalize the police force for up to 30 days — but any additional time requires Congressional approval. During a speech Wednesday from the Kennedy Center, Trump said he will seek a 'long-term' extension. 'Well, if it's a national emergency, we can do it without Congress,' Trump said, when asked about whether he's talked to lawmakers about extending the takeover. He added that he expects meet with Congress 'very quickly' and snag GOP support. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) signaled in a post online Wednesday that he and fellow Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) were working with the Trump administration on a safety package for the district. 'Together, we will try to shepherd the DC Security Fund through Congress to give President Trump the resources he will need to improve the safety and quality of life in our nation's capital,' he wrote on social platform X. 'Every American should be behind this effort to make Washington, DC clean and safe so that it can truly become the shining city on the hill.' For such a move to advance, however, it would likely need support from some Senate Democrats. Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) made clear that his caucus would not back the measure. 'No f‑‑‑ing way,' he told podcast host Aaron Parnas. 'We'll fight him tooth and nail. … He needs to get Congress to approve it, and not only are we not going to approve it, but there are some Republicans who don't like either.' D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has also pushed back on Trump's moves, calling them an 'authoritarian push' as data shows the crime rate declining in the nation's capital. The mayor has also used the national attention as a platform to reup the district's quest to gain statehood.
Los Angeles Times
27 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Letters to the Editor: Secretary's willingness to tamper with past climate reports is dangerous
To the editor: U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright is intending to review and potentially alter the nation's next climate science report ('Energy secretary says Trump administration may alter past National Climate Assessments,' Aug. 7). He's already removed the climate assessments from the government websites. He has accused the previous reviews (even the ones made during the first Trump administration) as being 'politically biased.' Just wondering if Wright has actually looked outdoors recently or at least kept abreast of the weather reports. Has he not seen the spate of unprecedented tornadoes razing towns and communities? Or witnessed the deadly floods throughout the country? Or the wildfires from hell in the West? Or the unbearable heat waves hitting the Northeast? Or the approaching hurricanes that signal widespread death and destruction on the way? It is clear that Wright is on a leash, eager to do the bidding of his master — old 'Drill, Baby, Drill!' His stated intentions, as well as his removal of the climate assessments from years past from governmental websites, make him complicit in the disaster that is to come. Lanore Pearlman, Claremont ... To the editor: I see that Wright, previously the CEO of a company that did fracking, says that the government climate reports have been politically driven and are not accepted by 'a credible economist or scientist.' I am sure he is right that some economists do not wish to contemplate the possibility of climate change, but I would challenge him as to what the majority scientific opinion might be. Hundreds of scientists have studied the issue. Most published articles note that change is occurring. The evidence is everywhere: shrinking glaciers in every part of the globe, shrinking polar and Greenland ice sheets, the melting of the Russian tundra, bleaching coral reefs, longer, hotter summers, disruption of rain patterns, even the opening of the Northwest Passage. The actual debate appears to be whether human activity is causing it. In other words, conservatives do not believe we can stop the process. Erica Hahn, Monrovia ... To the editor: Wright's changes might misinform some, but if our extreme weather-related events continue at their enhanced pace, eventually the public will demand action. Those events are devastating and deadly to the affected population and the economic damage is astounding. I find it disingenuous and devious that the Energy secretary is considering changes to previous scientific-based reports. Going back to scrub past reports won't change the facts that our climate has changed and fossil fuel emissions are exacerbating this change. Jonathan Light, Laguna Niguel
New York Post
27 minutes ago
- New York Post
Russia appears ready to test new missile — even as Putin prepares for Trump talks, researchers warn
Russia appears to be preparing to test its new nuclear-armed, nuclear-powered cruise missile, according to two US researchers and a Western security source, even as Russian President Vladimir Putin readies for talks on Ukraine with US President Donald Trump on Friday. Jeffrey Lewis of the California-based Middlebury Institute of International Studies, and Decker Eveleth of the CNA research and analysis organization, based in Virginia, reached their assessments separately by studying imagery taken in recent weeks until Tuesday by Planet Labs, a commercial satellite firm. They agreed the photos showed extensive activity at the Pankovo test site on the Barents Sea archipelago of Novaya Zemlya, including increases in personnel and equipment and ships and aircraft associated with earlier tests of the 9M730 Burevestnik (Storm Petrel). 5 A satellite view shows an aircraft at the Rogachevo military airfield in Rogachevo, Russia on August 5, 2025 via REUTERS 'We can see all of the activity at the test site, which is both huge amounts of supplies coming in to support operations and movement at the place where they actually launch the missile,' Lewis said. A Western security source, who asked not to be further identified, confirmed that Russia is preparing a Burevestnik test. Lewis said a test could occur this week, raising the possibility it could overshadow the Trump-Putin summit in Alaska. Asked for comment, the White House did not address the possibility of a Burevestnik test. The Pentagon, the CIA, and Russia's Defense Ministry declined to comment. Putin has said the weapon – dubbed the SSC-X-9 Skyfall by NATO – is 'invincible' to current and future missile defenses, with an almost unlimited range and unpredictable flight path. 5 A satellite image showed equipment appearing to be at the Pankovo test site in Russia's Yuzhny Island on August 7, 2025. via REUTERS Lewis, Eveleth, and two arms control experts said the missile's development has taken on more importance for Moscow since Trump announced in January the development of a US Golden Dome missile defense shield. But many experts say it is unclear the missile can evade defenses, will not give Moscow capabilities it does not already have, and will spew radiation along its flight path. A test would have been scheduled long in advance of last week's announcement of the Trump-Putin meeting, the researchers and experts said. Start your day with all you need to know Morning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more. Thanks for signing up! Enter your email address Please provide a valid email address. By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Never miss a story. Check out more newsletters But Putin could have suspended preparations in view of US spy satellites to signal his openness to ending his war in Ukraine as well as to restarting arms-control talks with the US, the experts said New START, the last US-Russia pact capping strategic nuclear deployments, expires on February 5. 'Sometimes you can push up or push down the schedule for a political reason,' said Tom Countryman, a former acting undersecretary of state for arms control. 5 Researchers suspect Russia is preparing to test its nuclear-powered cruise missile. via REUTERS The Burevestnik has a poor test record, according to the Nuclear Threat Initiative advocacy group, with two partial successes among 13 known tests. Special aircraft Eveleth and Lewis said the Planet Labs imagery showed stacks of shipping containers, equipment, and personnel arriving since late July. Lewis said two aircraft equipped to gather test data had been parked at the archipelago's Rogachevo military airfield since mid-July. Images he provided to Reuters showed two large jets mounted with saucer-shaped radar domes. He noted the presence of at least five ships associated with previous tests. A ship-tracking website – – showed a sixth ship linked to earlier tests was due to arrive on Tuesday, he said. 5 'We can see all of the activity at the test site,' researcher Jeffrey Lewis said. via REUTERS Reuters confirmed the website showed the vessel, a cargo ship named the Teriberka, bound for Novaya Zemlya, but could not independently confirm the researchers' other findings. Eveleth and Lewis said they began examining imagery of Pankovo starting from July, after Russia on August 6 published a notice to mariners to stay away from the area from August 9-12. Reuters found a series of notices on the US Federal Aviation Administration's Defense Internet NOTAM Service issued by Russia showing a possible launch window between August 9-22. 5 Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to meet with President Trump on Friday. VYACHESLAV PROKOFYEV/SPUTNIK/KREMLIN POOL/EPA/Shutterstock The Norwegian military told Reuters in an email that the Barents Sea is a 'prime location for Russian missile tests' and that it had indications from notices and maritime warnings of 'preparations for test activities.' But it said it would 'not confirm any knowledge of what kind of munitions they are to test.' In late July, Eveleth said, he noticed a shelter protecting the Burevestnik launcher from the weather was being slid back and forth, which he called 'very clear evidence' of plans for a test. Lewis provided to Reuters images taken of the site on August 7 showing the protective launcher cover, stacks of shipping containers, a crane for moving them, and a helicopter. 'It's full steam ahead,' he said of the pace of test preparations.
