U.S. President Donald Trump is yet again aiming to show he has an iron grip on the Republican Party, pushing to oust the Republican congressman who stood up to him on the Epstein files.
Thomas Massie, the seven-term representative from Kentucky, must win a primary on Tuesday to remain the Republican candidate during this fall's midterm election.
Trump has backed a challenger to Massie, urging Republicans to "vote the bum out" and so much money has flowed into the campaign that it has hit arecord for spending in a House primary.
It's impossible to overstate the extent of Trump's publicly aired contempt for Massie.
The president has called the congressman "a major sleazebag," "a disloyal, ungracious, and sanctimonious FOOL" and "theworst and most unreliableRepublican Congressman in the history of our Country."
And that's just since Saturday, in a storm ofsocial media poststargeting Massie.
Trump claims victory after Republican foe loses re-election bid
Massie rose to national prominence in 2025 when the Trump administration balked at releasing Department of Justice files on its investigations into Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier who died by suicide while facing trial.
The Kentucky Republican led the push in Congress for abill thatforced the release of the files, which passed overwhelmingly despite Trump'svehement opposition.
Massie has long been a bit of a maverick since his first election win in 2012, frequently refusing to toe the party line on votes when he felt a bill was not sufficiently conservative.
During Trump's first term in the White House, Massie rubbed the president the wrong way often enough that Trump called for his ouster in the 2020 Republican primary, but Massie prevailed.
This time around, despite his waning popularity among the broader voting public, Trump has demonstrated that he still retains huge power and influence over his party's base, particularly when it comes to getting rid of Republicans he believes have crossed him.
Will Massie become the next Republican victim of a Trump political vendetta?
The decision is up to registered Republicans in Kentucky's 4th Congressional District, which sweeps northeast from the outskirts of Louisville along the Ohio River, through the suburbs south of Cincinnati and over to the lush foothills and old coal towns of Appalachia.
Massie's challenger is Ed Gallrein, a former Navy SEAL whose campaign team includes some key Trump advisers.
