analysis
The American president is getting rid of Republican Representative Thomas Massie, a harsh critic of the Iran war. But he already seems to be looking ahead to the next election.
May 20, 2026, 06:55May 20, 2026, 06:55
Renzo Ruf, Washington
Donald Trump’s campaign of revenge continues unstoppably. On Wednesday night, the American president managed to get rid of one of his most stubborn internal party critics in Washington. MP Thomas Massie lost the Republican primary in his home state of Kentucky – which will go down in history thanks to record-breaking spending of around $33 million. In the duel against his challenger Ed Gallrein, for whom Trump aggressively campaigned, Massie only received 45 percent of the vote.
Thomas Massie at his election party in Hebron (Kentucky). The Republican representative, first elected in 2012, was not nominated for another term on Tuesday.Image: keystone
Massie had made a name for himself in the House of Representatives in recent months as a sharp-tongued and media-savvy critic of the president. In contrast to his Republican party colleagues, the 55-year-old attacked Trump’s economic and foreign policy in sharp words – because Trump had strayed from the right path with his debt economy and the war against Iran and had broken election promises. He also called for a full release of the Epstein files, despite resistance from the Trump administration.
During the election campaign, Massie also provoked people with anti-Semitic slogans. Most recently, he claimed that his opponent was supported primarily by Jewish patrons and that Israel was trying to “buy an election in Kentucky.” And when he had to admit his defeat to his supporters on Tuesday evening, Massie said: The phone call with his opponent took longer than planned because he had to find Gallrein “in Tel Aviv” first. The former professional military man lives in the same constituency as Massie.
Now the Massie voters are homeless
And although the longtime lawmaker carefully avoided attacking the president personally, Trump made it his mission to destroy his opponent’s political career. Just as he prevented the re-nomination of Senator Bill Cassidy in Louisiana last weekend, another, gentler opponent.
Bill Cassidy was also defeated by Trump – he promptly voted with the Democrats.Image: keystone
So Trump will have celebrated on Wednesday night that Ed Gallrein won the duel against Massie. But the president shouldn’t be too happy about his victory. Because Massie represented an important part of the Republican coalition that helped Trump get back into the White House. He actually depends on this part if he wants to continue to rule the capital in the future.
Because Massie was the voice of the centrists and isolationists who are critical of the government apparatus in Washington. He also spoke to many young people who share his criticism of the Iran war – even if they may not find the lazy comments that Massie recently made about Israel funny at all.
Now these voters are homeless because Trump has made it clear that he no longer wants a figurehead like Massie in his party. Some may vote for the opposition in protest. Others will stay home in November, when the entire House and a third of the Senate are redistricted. And make plans there for the time after Trump, when the soon-to-be 80-year-old president may no longer control his party.
In any case, the mood at Massie’s election party was surprisingly good. Although the MP has to retire by the beginning of January 2027 at the latest, his supporters cheered him on. Massie, in turn, spoke of “a movement” of highly motivated activists that formed during the primaries and which he now leads. Then some supporters began chanting the rallying cry “2028, 2028.”
The next presidential election will take place in the USA in two years. Massie just grinned and said he needed a drink first.
“We can talk about it later.”
(aargauerzeitung.ch)