Two key advisers to President Donald Trump are launching a group to unseat Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican with a pattern of opposing Trump who most recently lambasted his decision Saturday to strike three Iranian nuclear facilities.
Chris LaCivita, a senior political adviser to Trump, confirmed to NBC News on Sunday that he and Tony Fabrizio, another Trump adviser, will run the anti-Massie super PAC.
Axios first reported the super PAC was being formed.
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Trump and Massie, a libertarian who has represented Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District since 2012, have long been at odds, with Trump saying he wanted Massie thrown out of the GOP in 2020. Still, Massie has retained his seat, winning multiple primary challenges and even Trump’s endorsement in 2022.
But Massie has continued to be a thorn in Trump’s side during his second term. In addition to opposing Trump’s strikes against Iran, he has consistently voted against his “big, beautiful bill” throughout the process.
Massie also partnered with Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., last week to introduce a war powers resolution meant to “prohibit involvement in Iran.”
“The Constitution does not permit the executive branch to unilaterally commit an act of war against a sovereign nation that hasn’t attacked the United States,” Massie said of the resolution in a statement at the time.
After the strikes in Iran on Saturday, Massie dug into Trump’s decision, writing on social media, “This is not Constitutional.”
Trump called Massie “not MAGA” and a “simple minded ‘grandstander’” Sunday on Truth Social.
“Massie is weak, ineffective, and votes ‘NO’ on virtually everything put before him (Rand Paul, Jr.), no matter how good something may be,” Trump wrote in his post, which referred to another Kentucky Republican, Sen. Rand Paul.
“The good news is 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. MAGA is not about lazy, grandstanding, nonproductive politicians, of which Thomas Massie is definitely one,” he added.
So far, only one Republican — Niki Lee Ethington — has filed to run in the primary for Kentucky’s 4th District. According to her campaign website, Ethington is a registered nurse who graduated in 2021 and has not held public office.
Massie responded to Trump’s attacks by posting a fundraising appeal and a screenshot of Trump’s social media post, along with a photo of a TV appearance Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” During that appearance, he advocated for not getting involved in a war in Iran.
Later in the day, Massie also wrote on X that Trump “declared so much War on me today it should require an Act of Congress.”
On Sunday afternoon, Massie also blasted Trump for his post on Truth Social earlier in the day that asked, “why wouldn’t there be regime change” in Iran and calling to “MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN.”
Massie wrote, “This is not America First folks.”
Trump has taken out Republicans in primaries before — most memorably in the 2022 election cycle, when his political operation targeted GOP lawmakers who voted to impeach him after the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol. Eight of the 10 lost their primaries or chose not to stand for re-election.
Ben Kamisar and Scott Bland contributed.
