Politics
JUST IN: Thomas Massie Gets Brutal Re-Election Update Amid Feud With Trump
Signs of wear and tear on the image of Congressman Thomas Massie (R-KY) are becoming more evident after months of eviscerating criticisms by President Donald Trump.
Massie has been at the forefront of a small band of hardline fiscal conservatives threatening to hold up Trump’s “big, beautiful” tax cut bill when it returns from Senate markups for a second vote. His outspoken opposition has drawn sharp words from Trump, who over the weekend announced that he would be investing heavily in a Republican challenger to defeat Massie in next year’s primary election.
Winning that battle may turn out to be easier than it initially appeared.
A new poll by Kaplan Strategies shows that the six-term lawmaker is viewed poorly by his constituents, the vast majority of whom would prefer that someone else take his place when the 120th Congress convenes in 2027.
Asked whether Massie deserves to be reelected, just 19% of respondents agreed, while 47% indicated they would be willing to support a challenger. If Trump were to endorse that challenger, Massie’s stature would fall even further to 14% while the challenger’s support would rise to 59%.
The only challenger to declare her candidacy is Nicole Lee Ethington, a registered nurse with no prior political experience or history of running for office. Despite her lack of name recognition, Ethington would start with a massive lead over Massie, who just last week reported raising $177,394 in a matter of days.
A head-to-head poll gives Ethington a 31%-19% lead over Massie. Kaplan notes that Massie’s 19% is the same amount that he would earn against a generic unnamed challenger, meaning Ethington only has room to grow if Trump wades into the matchup.
“Ethington is likely the only one with significant room to grow in support as her share of the vote is below the total number of voters that say they will at least ‘probably’ vote for a challenger to Massie,” pollsters wrote.
Among Republicans, Massie is viewed favorably by just 23% compared to 62% who view him unfavorably. The same pool of voters gives Trump a stellar 89% approval rating, with just 9% disapproving of his job performance.
Last week, Massie took aim at AIPAC, the largest pro-Israel lobbying group in Washington, D.C., over his opposition to President Trump’s decision to strike Iran.
“Will lobbyists for a FOREIGN country be able to buy a seat in Congress? That’s the question in my re-election. 1,900 of you donated $177,394 this week to make sure I can hold this office to represent American interests, not foreign interests,” he wrote in a social media message.
The congressman predicted that Trump’s involvement in his reelection would only benefit him.
“The biggest impact of Trump getting involved on the other side of a race is usually diminished fund raising. In my case, we’re seeing the opposite effect,” he said.
“Most of the people donating to me also support Trump, but they strongly believe Congressmen should be able to vote to represent their districts instead of being a rubber stamp for the President or beholden to foreign interest groups like AIPAC,” he added, referring to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
