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Opinion | Thomas Massie Is One of a Vanishing Breed: A Republican Who ...
AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTYou have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.Guest EssayHe’s One of a Dying Breed in Congress. America Needs Him Now More Than Ever.May 14, 2026Credit...Tierney L. Cross/The New York TimesListen · 9:52 min By Katherine Mangu-WardMs. Mangu-Ward is the editor in chief of Reason.Thomas Massie — the Republican congressman from Kentucky’s Fourth District — is an M.I.T.-trained engineer, inventor, cattle farmer, libertarian, deficit hawk and skeptic of foreign aid and foreign wars. He is also, in the view of President Trump, “a complete and total disaster” who should be removed from office as soon as possible.Their falling-out wasn’t a foregone conclusion. Mr. Massie votes with his party 91 percent of the time. He shares MAGA’s distrust of the administrative state and MAHA’s suspicion that federal health and agriculture bureaucracies are too cozy with the industries they regulate. He was drinking raw milk before Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made it cool.But the overlap has limits, especially on trade, spending and executive power. And above all, Mr. Massie is against being told what to do and refuses to submit to the final test: unquestioning loyalty to the president. Mr. Trump recently called him “disloyal to the United States of America,” but what the president really meant was that he wasn’t sufficiently loyal to Mr. Trump. His independent streak is what makes him so irritating to his party, and so useful to it.A movement that cannot tolerate a Thomas Massie has become exactly what its critics say it is — a personality cult with principles grafted on after the fact.On Tax Day, I spent a couple of hours on Capitol Hill with Mr. Massie, and walked away convinced that America needs more Massies in Congress. He is the kind of libertarian-conservative that used to be, if not standard, at least not so unusual in the G.O.P. Congressional libertarians have traditionally tried to act as brakes on the machinery of the federal government, slowing its expansion in size and spending, regardless of who is in the Oval Office.Libertarians have correctly identified many of the dangers posed to Americans by the decisions of our government since Sept. 11, 2001 — the growth of the surveillance state, endless wars, catastrophic debt and deficits, overreach by the executive branch — and won few friends and fewer elections as a result.Thank you for your patience w...
How Thomas Massie came to represent Republican dissent in age of Trump ...
Since Donald Trump’s rise to the White House a decade ago, the United States president has purged his Republican Party of critics and rivals.Many politicians dropped their earlier criticism of him and earned a place in his inner circle. Others never sought re-election or retired in the middle of their term to avoid a fight with the president, who is known for personal insults and lack of tolerance for dissent.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Virginia Supreme Court strikes down Democrats’ redistricting plan in USlist 2 of 3US Senator Cassidy’s vote to convict Trump looms over Louisiana primarylist 3 of 3Why Louisiana paused its US House primary election amid redistricting pushend of listA few other legislators who chose to fight on were defeated by Trump-backed opponents in Republican primaries.Congressman Thomas Massie, a Kentucky libertarian, is one of the last dissidents standing. He has been a rare Republican thorn in the side of Trump since the US president’s return to power last year.Massie has voted against a key tax bill backed by the president, pushed for the release of government files related to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein against the White House’s wishes and vocally opposed the war on Iran and US aid to Israel.Now Massie is in a fight for his career as he faces a Trump-endorsed Republican opponent – Ed Gallrein, a former Navy SEAL officer – and an avalanche of pro-Israel spending in next week’s congressional primary in Kentucky.The contest, however, goes beyond Trump and could be a litmus test for the faultlines emerging within the Republican base, including over military interventions and support for Israel.For Massie’s supporters, the race on May 19 is a test for everything the congressman purports to stand for: unflinching loyalty to the US Constitution, political integrity and standing up to powerful special interest groups.On Wednesday, influential right-wing commentator Mike Cernovich underscored another aspect of the contest in Kentucky – a showdown gauging the influence of podcasters who support Massie against campaign spending and traditional conservative media outlets.“Massie’s primary is an interesting one to watch because it’ll show if podcasters and social media can drive out the vote in a material way. It’s unlimited money on the other end,” Cernovich wrote on X.“If Massie loses, every Congress member will be cowed into fear. If he wins, it’s a new media era.”Who is Massie?So how did a 55-year-old House member co...
leaning renegade Republican Rep. Thomas Massie is fighting for ...
The attack ad wars are ramping up in Kentucky's 4th Congressional District, where longtime libertarian-leaning renegade Republican Rep. Thomas Massie is...
Thomas Massie Is A Political Survivor - The Daily Wire
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) has survived bruising political fights before, but the most expensive U.S. House primary in American history may pose the greatest threat yet to his political career.The Kentucky Republican has been a thorn in President Donald Trump's side for much of his second term, emerging as a vocal critic of the administration's handling of the Epstein files, Iran, and the ...
