Thomas Massie's Moment Has Come

Plus: Ed Gallrein won't talk about his background, and Sen. Bill Cassidy bites the dust.

Friends of Rep. Thomas Massie flocked to his Kentucky district to campaign for him over the weekend, drawing the ire of the libertarian-leaning Republican's number one hater: Donald Trump. The furious president called for a new wave of reprisals against those who would defy him, including Rep. Lauren Boebert (R–Col.), who said she supported both Massie and Trump.

"Boebert is campaigning for the Worst 'Republican' Congressman in the History of our Country, Thomas Massie, of the Great Commonwealth of Kentucky, and anybody who can be that dumb deserves a good Primary fight!" seethed Trump on Truth Social. "Even though I long ago endorsed Boebert, if the right person came along, it would be my Honor to withdraw that Endorsement, and endorse a good and proper alternative."

Boebert, to her credit, was not cowed, replying on X that she was "proud to stand by my friend Thomas Massie."

Sen. Rand Paul (R–Ky.) and Rep. Victoria Spartz (R–Ind.) have also campaigned for Massie.

Massie's Race Matters! pic.twitter.com/gdiW7kIUkE

— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) May 18, 2026

The president's allies are throwing everything they can at Massie, including a last-minute accusation of personal misconduct involving a former girlfriend. Despite headline after headline proclaiming that the congressman was involved with some sort of "hush money" payment, the actual details are not nearly so salacious: According to Massie, he gave the ex-girlfriend, Cynthia West, between $5,000 and $10,000 to help her move to Washington, D.C. West subsequently obtained, and then lost, a job in Sparz's office, and filed a wrongful termination suit. Both Massie and Sparz deny that she was offered "hush money" by Massie. On the contrary, the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights offered her $60,000 to settle the suit, which she refused.

It's the sort of non-scandal that wouldn't even merit media coverage, but Trump's social media boosters have seized upon it. Laura Loomer has posted about Massie incessantly on X, and is even planning to release some sort of interview with West.

This all goes to show that within the Republican Party, crossing Trump is still a risky move. Massie is popular within his district, but Trump is putting everything he can to tip the scales in favor of Massie's challenger, Ed Gallrein. With both sides spending a combined $35 million on the race, it has already become the most expensive congressional primary in history.

Meanwhile, Gallrein is running an anemic campaign that consists entirely of coasting on Trump's endorsement. Gallrein has skipped every debate and refused to answer basic questions about his background. Independent journalist Ken Klippenstein notes that Gallrien has been deliberately vague about his time as a Navy SEAL, leaving voters to assume that he was involved in secret missions. Gallrein has bragged that Trump reviewed his classified files—and if he's good enough for Trump, he suggests, he should be good enough for Republican primary voters.

Needless to say, Gallrein has dutifully backed Trump completely, even on issues that are a tough sell for some Republicans, to say nothing of general election voters. Gallrein has defended Trump's war with Iran and dismissed concerns from constituents about higher gas prices. He has claimed that Trump is playing "five-dimensional chess" against the Iranians. He subsequently altered the analogy to "nine-dimensional chess." Trump's ability to win at chess is expanding beyond the physical constraints of this universe.

Tuesday's primary is expected to be close. Some recent polling has Massie trailing Gallrein, and the challenger is also ahead in prediction markets. Another occasional Trump foe, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R–La.), lost his primary over the weekend, coming in third and missing the run-off. Cassidy had voted to remove Trump from office after January 6 and thwarted some of the Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s initiatives. Now he's gone: Trump may be unpopular in national polls, but within the Republican Party, he's still collecting scalps.

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Scenes from Washington, D.C.: It was a gorgeous weekend in the nation's capital, with temperatures finally consistently in the 80s on Sunday. I attended a graduation party, a brunch with other journalists, and the annual Dragon Boat Festival, a Taiwanese cultural event.

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QUICK HITS

• Trump's statements about delaying weapons sales to Taiwan have raised some eyebrows.
• Trump also said that China pledged not to provide military assistance to Iran during the current war.
• Some students protested Jonathan Haidt, who spoke at New York University's commencement last week. His remarks were published by The Atlantic.
• New data center construction is becoming more and more controversial.
• Megan McArdle: "Is France really poorer than Mississippi?" The answer is yes.
• Elon Musk just can't stop complaining about the casting for Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey. Here is the academic Oliver Traldi's excellent contribution to this idiotic discourse:

To settle a troublesome discourse, I have provided here the most faithful and poetic possible translation of the beginning of the Odyssey.

We male sex. We
complex. We

fake horse. We
off course. We

sail long. We
hear song. We

pig crew. We
home soon.

— Oliver Traldi (@olivertraldi) May 17, 2026