Thomas Massie told Republicans in rural Butler, Kentucky, that he agrees with President Donald Trump 90% of the time, but he made clear he will not follow the president or his party blindly when he thinks they are wrong.
Massie said the House, the Senate and the White House have added $2.7 trillion to the deficit over 16 months, and he cast himself as someone who will stand apart when the Republican leadership pushes in the wrong direction. “I'll vote with you, not with them, when they want to do that,” he told the crowd.
The comments came as Massie faces Ed Gallrein, the Trump-backed challenger in Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District, at a Republican primary that has drawn national attention. More than 140 Republicans attended the Pendleton County Republican Party’s annual dinner, where both men appealed to voters trying to decide whether loyalty to Trump or independence in Washington should matter more.
Gallrein told the crowd he would act in lockstep with Trump and said the president met with him at the White House and persuaded him to run. He said Trump asked him to serve again and gave him his strongest endorsement in the campaign. Gallrein also called Massie a darling of the mainstream media and said, “He sides with the radical Democrats in the liberal elites against us and our families again and again.”
He also complained that a March article from focused on Massie and ignored his own case. “ didn't even talk to me. They spent all the time with him, and they did a loving article on him, because they love him, but his nonsense won't work, because you can see right through it,” Gallrein said.
Several voters told Kentucky Public Radio they had not decided how they would vote, a sign that the Trump endorsement has not settled the race on its own. Teri Strong said she does not enjoy the mud-slinging from both sides and that the Trump endorsement will not decide her vote. “I want someone who will do things that make my life easier,” she said.
Lynda Meyer said she respects Gallrein’s military record as a retired Navy SEAL officer, but said she wants a candidate focused on practical issues. “What are you going to do for our county and our state and our country? I don't care what you think about the other candidate. I don't care who backs you. I want to know what you stand for,” Meyer said. That leaves Massie trying to defend a record built on defiance and Gallrein trying to turn Trump’s backing into discipline inside the district. The race now turns on whether Republican voters in northern Kentucky want a member who follows Trump closely or one who says he will disagree when the party goes too far.
