Rep. Thomas Massie has a civics lesson lined up at local schools on Wednesday — the same day President Trump rolls into the state to rally support for the man trying to unseat him.
Mr. Massie has done plenty of school visits before, but the Kentucky Republican said the timing of Mr. Trump’s trip gives him a little extra material to work with. Specifically: James Madison’s idea of separation of powers — that concentrating power in one branch of government is “the very definition of tyranny.”
“I think I’ll spend a little more time explaining that congressmen don’t work for the president,” Massie told The Washington Times with a laugh. “We don’t even work for the speaker. Our chain of command goes straight to the people.”
He said he also plans to remind students that Congress — not the executive branch — is the one constitutionally required to authorize war.
The backdrop for that lesson is hard to miss.
Mr. Trump will be a few hours down the road on Wednesday when he visits the Verst Logistics facility in Hebron, Kentucky — right in the heart of Mr. Massie’s 4th Congressional District.
Mr. Trump has made Mr. Massie his No. 1 primary target this election year. The president and his allies, including deep-pocketed pro-Israel donors, are pouring millions into sinking him in the primary and boosting his challenger, Ed Gallrein, a former Navy SEAL who plans to accompany Mr. Trump on his visit.
Ahead of his visit, Mr. Trump blasted Mr. Massie on Truth Social, saying he would “go down as the worst Republican congressman in the long and fabled history of the United States Congress.” The president lumped Mr. Massie in with other lawmakers he has criticized, including former Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who had a public fallout with Mr. Trump and remains a vocal Massie supporter.
He added that Mr. Massie is running against “a great American Patriot” in the Kentucky primary and said he hopes Mr. Massie “loses big.”
Mr. Gallrein echoed the criticism, accusing Mr. Massie of siding with Democrats and voting against the president week after week in Congress.
Anticipating the attacks, Mr. Massie quipped that Mr. Trump is “trying to resuscitate my opponent’s lifeless campaign.”
The tension stems from Mr. Massie’s pushback on spending — including taxpayer money sent overseas to Israel and other countries — and his questions about whether the president exceeded his constitutional authority in military actions in Venezuela and Iran, which led to the death of Army Sgt. Benjamin N. Pennington, 26, of Glendale, Kentucky.
With Republicans holding only a razor-thin majority in the House, that friction has left the White House with little room to maneuver.
Mr. Massie has also pushed for the release of government files related to Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender who died in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges.
He frames his independence as sticking to his libertarian principles — and, in some cases, being more aligned with parts of the MAGA agenda than the president himself.
“Here are the MAGA promises that I have not flinched from: Number one, release the Epstein files. Number two, no more regime change wars. Number three, drain the swamp,” Mr. Massie said. “I’m the one following through.”
He also argues that many of his House GOP colleagues struggle to balance what Mr. Trump originally promised with what he is doing now.
“My colleagues every week are forced to choose between Trump’s promises and what Trump is doing that week,” Mr. Massie said. “And it’s excruciating for them behind the scenes. I always choose to go with what I campaigned on.”
People in Mr. Trump’s orbit see it differently.
Chris LaCivita, a senior adviser to Mr. Trump’s 2024 campaign who is helping lead the effort to defeat Mr. Massie, said the congressman has “aligned himself with the most radical leftists in the country.” He pointed to Mr. Massie’s vote with Democrats against the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which extended the 2017 tax cuts and lowered taxes for many Americans over 65.
“The overwhelming majority of Americans support the president and his policies aimed at making America great again,” Mr. LaCivita told The Times. “Thomas Massie has proven himself a huge disappointment to his constituents, his party, and the president.”
Despite the pressure, Mr. Massie remains upbeat about his re-election chances, saying his support is growing even as he is outspent two-to-one, and that even voters who turn out for Mr. Trump’s visit will stay in his corner come the May 19 primary.
He has also started questioning Mr. Gallrein’s loyalty to Mr. Trump and the GOP, citing voter registration records showing his rival left the Republican Party to register as an independent after Mr. Trump clinched the nomination in 2016 — and did not switch back to the Republican Party until 2021.
Mr. Gallrein pushed back in an email, saying he was “proud to vote for President Trump all three times” — apparently referring to his general-election votes — and noted that he donated to Mr. Trump’s campaigns in 2020 and 2024. He also pointed out that Mr. Massie backed Ron DeSantis in the 2024 GOP primary before shifting to Mr. Trump after the Florida governor’s campaign fizzled out.
Mr. Massie also accuses Mr. Gallrein of shying away from the debate stage.
“He’s running a Joe Biden-type campaign from the basement of his house or from the field on his farm,” Mr. Massie said. “My voters deserve to get to know who he is.”
The Gallrein campaign was sent a request seeking clarification on his debate plans.
