Trump-aligned political advisers have formed a political action committee in Kentucky to oust Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), in President Donald Trump‘s first effort to challenge a Republican incumbent.
Massie has often bucked his party by voting against the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last month and more recently sowing doubt that Iran was an “imminent threat” before Trump chose to strike three of its nuclear sites. At the time, he was joined by Reps. Warren Davidson (R-OH) and Andy Harris (R-MD), with all three citing their concerns over the nation’s deficit.
Kentucky MAGA had not filed with the Federal Election Commission as of Monday morning. However, Tony Fabrizio and Chris LaCivita confirmed to Axios that they will be running the PAC with the goal of putting forth a primary challenger.
Fabrizio recently conducted a poll in Kentucky, which was obtained by the outlet, that reported 52% would support a Trump-backed candidate, while 23% support Massie. The poll showed that 87% approved of Trump, while 52% approved of Massie.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Fabrizio and LaCivita for comment.
Massie spoke out about Trump’s decision to strike Iran Saturday night, when the House was on recess. The Kentucky representative expressed his desire that his joint resolution with Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) had been debated and voted on before the decision was made. This resolution mirrors that of Sen. Tim Kaine’s (D-VA), whose own resolution requires congressional debate and a vote before the U.S. takes any offensive measures against Iran.
These recent efforts by Massie prompted a rebuke from Trump. In a post to Truth Social, Trump promised that “we will have a wonderful American Patriot running against him in the Republican Primary, and I’ll be out in Kentucky campaigning really hard.”
“Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky is not MAGA, even though he likes to say he is,” Trump wrote on Sunday. “He’s a simple minded ‘grandstander’ who thinks it’s good politics for Iran to have the highest level Nuclear weapon, while at the same time yelling ‘DEATH TO AMERICA’ at every chance they get. Iran has killed and maimed thousands of Americans, and even took over the American Embassy in Tehran under the Carter Administration. We had a spectacular military success yesterday, taking the ‘bomb’ right out of their hands (and they would use it if they could!) but, as usual, and despite all of the praise and accolades received, this ‘lightweight’ Congressman is against what was so brilliantly achieved last night in Iran.”
Trump adviser James Blair piped into the spat, predicting that Massie is serving “his last term in Congress.”
“[I don’t care] if Thomas Massie opposes some things, including last night’s action. But he doesn’t, he opposes everything,” Blair wrote on X Sunday. “Never engages constructively. Never has solutions. Just attacks our President on TV & begs for money on X. Same as a Democrat. Doesn’t know what time it is.”
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LaCivita responded to Blair’s post with the comment, “oh he knows what time it is …it’s Times Up!”
Massie has responded to the online spat with a joke posted to X. The representative shared a screenshot of Trump’s post with the caption, “@realDonaldTrump declared so much War on me today it should require an Act of Congress. #sassywithmassie.” His campaign account also shared the post in an effort to rally more support.