{"id":2604213,"date":"2026-05-18T19:42:59","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T23:42:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/sticking-their-neck-out-massie-allies-risk-trumps-wrath\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T19:43:50","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T23:43:50","slug":"sticking-their-neck-out-massie-allies-risk-trumps-wrath","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/sticking-their-neck-out-massie-allies-risk-trumps-wrath\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Sticking their neck out&#8217;: Massie allies risk Trump&#8217;s wrath"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fsticking-their-neck-out-massie-allies-risk-trumps-wrath%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2604213&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Allies of Rep. Thomas Massie in Kentucky are betting on a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trumps-grip-over-the-gop-could-be-slipping-polls-show\/\" title=\"...\u2019s Grip Over The ... Could Be Slipping, Polls Show\">high-stakes primary<\/a>, but <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >teh article argues<\/a> that backing the libertarian Republican could draw backlash from President Donald trump. Trump has a pattern of punishing GOP figures who challenge him, and Massie\u2019s supporters are reportedly learning that risk firsthand.<\/p>\n<p>The piece highlights how Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) reportedly felt the consequences after appearing with Massie. Trump attacked Boebert on Truth Social and suggested he would withdraw his endorsement and support a challenger; Boebert responded that she understood the risks and still supports \u201cAmerica First\u201d and MAGA. Other <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/glenn-youngkin-says-hes-not-entering-presidential-race-this-year-2\/\" title=\"Youngkin: Not Running for ... in 2021.\">lawmakers aligned<\/a> with Massie-such as Rep. victoria spartz and Rep. Warren Davidson, along with Sen. Rand Paul-also joined campaigning efforts in Kentucky over the weekend.<\/p>\n<p>It notes that Trump\u2019s effort to defeat massie is exceptionally intense: the primary has already become one of the most expensive in history, with tens of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-cancer-charity-gave-zero-for-research-millions-spent-on-salaries-travel\/\" title=\"Biden Cancer Charity Gave \u2018Zero\u2019 For Research; Millions ... On Salaries, Travel\">millions spent<\/a> and additional money funneled in from Trump-aligned groups and pro-Israel organizations.GOP strategist Dennis Lennox frames this spending as evidence of trump\u2019s determination to unseat Massie, adding that Trump likely won\u2019t forget who backed him.<\/p>\n<p>the article suggests the primary outcome could have national implications: a Massie loss would reinforce Trump\u2019s sway over the GOP, while a win could signal a possible path for anti-establishment conservatives looking to take on the president.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"fn-body\">\n<p>Allies of <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/thomas-massie\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"17668\">Rep. Thomas Massie<\/a> are taking a political gamble that could put them directly in <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/president-donald-trump\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"17568\">President Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s crosshairs by standing beside the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/kentucky\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"30\">Kentucky<\/a> Republican in the toughest primary fight of his career. <\/p>\n<p>Trump has long been known to punish Republicans who defy him, whether over major policy disputes or personal slights. Now, some Republicans backing Massie are discovering that support for the Kentucky libertarian carries a major risk.<\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<div class=\"magazine-container single\">\n<h1 class=\"magazine-title mt-2\">Recommended Stories<\/h1>\n<p>             <i class=\"fa-solid fa-play icon\"><\/i>         <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-grid\">\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4573446\/john-cornyn-trump-no-endorsement-texas-senate-runoff\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Cornyn claims Trump won\u2019t endorse in Texas Senate runoff<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4572488\/ed-gallrein-thomas-massie-kentucky\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Who is Ed Gallrein? Navy SEAL and farmer who could oust Thomas Massie in Kentucky<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4571278\/thomas-massie-kentucky-primary-stakes\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>What\u2019s at stake in the Thomas Massie primary<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/lauren-boebert\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"3037\">Rep. Lauren Boebert<\/a> (R-CO) got a taste of that backlash after appearing with Massie at a campaign event over the weekend. Boebert\u2019s deployment to Kentucky came at the same time as a parade of Trump allies descended on Massie\u2019s district to campaign for his Trump-backed challenger, Ed Gallrein.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>\u201cIs anyone interested in running against Weak Minded Lauren Boebert in Colorado\u2019s Fourth Congressional District?\u201d Trump <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/@realDonaldTrump\/posts\/116586609402311469\">wrote on TruthSocial<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cBoebert is campaigning for the Worst \u2018Republican\u2019 Congressman in the History of our Country, Thomas Massie, of the Great Commonwealth of Kentucky, and anybody who can be that dumb deserves a good Primary fight!\u201d the president continued, adding that it would be his \u201chonor\u201d to withdraw his endorsement and back a challenger.<\/p>\n<p>Boebert brushed off the president\u2019s attack.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes, I saw the President\u2019s post,\u201d she <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/laurenboebert\/status\/2055785706606264800?s=20\">wrote on X<\/a>. \u201cNo, I\u2019m not mad or offended. I knew the risks when I agreed to stand by my friend Thomas Massie. I was, and will be, America First, America Always, and MAGA.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Boebert is not the only GOP lawmaker who could face Trump\u2019s ire. Reps. Victoria Spartz (R-IN) and Warren Davidson (R-OH), along with Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), have also rallied behind Massie. Spartz and Davidson joined Boebert on the campaign trail in Kentucky over the weekend.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"fr\" dir=\"ltr\">Massie\u2019s Race Matters! <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/gdiW7kIUkE\">pic.twitter.com\/gdiW7kIUkE<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/laurenboebert\/status\/2056173810835984814?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 18, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>\u201cEven if Massie somehow survives \u2014 as he has before \u2014 Trump isn\u2019t going to forget it,\u201d GOP strategist Dennis Lennox told the <em>Washington Examiner. <\/em><\/p>\n<p>Massie himself appeared to acknowledge the political risk for his allies, telling <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ReedReports\/status\/2056480246610661771?s=20\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ReedReports\/status\/2056480246610661771?s=20\">Scripps News <\/a>on Monday: \u201cI have friends in Congress, and they\u2019re sticking their neck out for me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Since returning to the White House, Trump has aggressively flexed his political muscle against Republicans willing to oppose his agenda.<\/p>\n<p>This year alone, Trump-aligned groups spent millions to defeat for renomination several Indiana GOP state senators who refused the president\u2019s redistricting push. Sen Bill Cassidy (R-LA) saw his chances at reelection tank after Trump endorsed a primary challenger as payback for a five-year-old vote in favor of impeachment for the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.<\/p>\n<p>Yet even those contests pale in comparison to the effort Trump has undertaken to oust Massie. The race has already shattered records for the most expensive primary in history. More than $32 million has been spent overall, with Trump-aligned groups pouring more than $7 million into the race and pro-Israel organizations spending another $9 million to unseat Massie.<\/p>\n<p>Lennox said the money flooding into the race underscored how determined Trump is to oust Massie \u2014 and suggested the president is unlikely to forget Republicans who sided with him.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4570644\/lauren-boebert-campaign-thomas-massie-tough-kentucky-primary\/\">LAUREN BOEBERT TO CAMPAIGN FOR THOMAS MASSIE AHEAD OF TOUGH PRIMARY<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cMassie was never inside the party\u2019s tent,\u201d Lennox said. \u201cHe\u2019s always operated from outside it. And if he loses, the consultants, operatives, and vendors who tied themselves to him are politically stranded unless November turns into a total wipeout for Trump\u2019s Republican Party.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The outcome of Tuesday\u2019s primary is likely to reverberate far beyond the state. A Massie loss would further cement Trump\u2019s dominance over the GOP, while a victory could offer a road map for anti-establishment conservatives willing to challenge the president.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Allies backing Thomas Massie at great risk face Trump\u2019s wrath<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3691,"featured_media":2604214,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/image-collage-k4kkcmgyb-1779126669896-e1779142606234.jpg?1779128325&amp;w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[33274,5894,50955,3634],"class_list":["post-2604213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-civil-rights","tag-politics","tag-resistance-2","tag-trump"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/image-collage-k4kkcmgyb-1779126669896-e1779142606234.jpg?1779128325&amp;w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2604213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3691"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2604213"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2604213\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2604217,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2604213\/revisions\/2604217"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2604214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2604213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2604213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2604213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}