FLORENCE, KY – When President Donald Trump visits Northern Kentucky this week, he’ll be flanked by state lawmakers who’ve supported him for more than a decade – the same lawmakers who showed up in support of U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie just two weeks ago here at his campaign announcement.
Massie, who Trump has called the “worst Republican” in Congress, won’t be there.
He and Trump have been publicly feuding for years. But their relationship tanked last year as they disagreed about federal spending, military intervention in foreign wars, and the release of the Epstein files.
Last fall, Trump endorsed GOP challenger Ed Gallrein and called for Kentuckians to vote Massie out of office in the Republican primary this May.
Massie said he has the “Trump antibodies” and is looking to get a “booster shot” this election. But above that, he said the primary election is a referendum.
“It’s a referendum on whether any member of Congress can vote independently of their party when their party’s in the White House,” he said.
Massie and the ‘liberty warriors’
Among those who will be by Trump’s side March 11 is Kentucky state Sen. Gex Williams, R-Verona.
Just two weeks ago, he was the emcee at Massie’s campaign headquarters launch party in Florence, located about 10 miles southwest of Cincinnati.
Williams said that without Massie, nearly half of Northern Kentucky’s Republican lawmakers wouldn’t be in office.
“He’s a Kentucky jewel and a national treasure,” Williams said before reminding voters that they can support both Massie and President Donald Trump.
He said the two are essentially the same person with their “what you see is what you get” attitude.
“Whereas Trump is the ultimate MAGA spokesman,” Williams added, “Thomas Massie is the ultimate MAGA implementer.”
That sentiment is not unusual in Northern Kentucky where plenty of Republican officials credit Massie with launching or supporting their political careers.
Northern Kentucky – Boone, Kenton, and Campbell counties – has 14 Republicans in the state House and Senate.
Almost half of them were at the Massie campaign launch party, including state Sens. Gex Williams, R-Verona, and Steve Rawlings, R-Burlington. The state representatives attending included Reps. Steve Doan, R-Erlanger, Savannah Maddox, R-Dry Ridge, Marianne Proctor, R-Union, T.J. Roberts, R-Burlington, and Henry County’s Felicia Rabourn, R-Turners Station.
“I thank these liberty warriors in the state legislature,” Massie told a crowd of supporters as he introduced them. “This is what it’s about. It’s not about one race. It’s about a movement and we are building it.”
The lawmakers are among the same ones Massie endorsed or supported in 2024 and are often called liberty or constitutional Republicans. They’re GOP candidates that are sometimes more libertarian leaning, like Massie.
“Even though I’m still an outsider,” Massie said, referencing his tendency to draw ire from other Republicans, “I have the support of other elected officials. That will count for something in this race.”
In addition to Williams, state Sen. Rawlings said he and other lawmakers will be alongside Trump this week. That includes State Sens. Shelley Funke Frommeyer, R-Alexandria; Lindsey Tichenor, R-Smithfield; Phillip Wheeler, R-Pikeville; and Gary Boswell, R-Owensboro.
Not all Republicans
State Rep. Andy Barr has publicly supported Gallrein and publicly jabbed Massie over voting alongside Democrats.
“Ed will never side with AOC or the radical-left against President Trump. He is exactly the kind of conservative warrior we need in Congress, and I’m proud to endorse him,” Barr said in a news release.
Barr is also among the candidates in a crowded primary race for the empty U.S. Senate seat Republican Mitch McConnell is vacating.
Lexington businessman Nate Morris is also running for the seat and is another Gallrein supporter.
Republican committee chairs and Massie
Massie represents 776,00 people in Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District, which stretches from the northeastern part of the state that borders West Virginia to just outside the Louisville metro area. It includes 21 of the state’s 120 counties. Most have active local Republican Committees.
The Enquirer emailed all party chairs listed on the Republican Party of Kentucky website within Massie’s district.
In Boone, Kenton, and Campbell counties, none of the chairmen endorsed a candidate.
Here’s what a few county chairs had to say:
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Ahead of Trump visit, ‘liberty warriors’ say they’re for Massie
Reporting by Jolene Almendarez, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
