‘I’m afraid he won’t make it’: How Thomas Massie is handling the toughest election of his career

CNN ^ | May 14, 2026 | Jeff Zeleny

[CondoleezzaProtege]

Joni Pugh feels like she’s stuck in the middle of a bitter family feud between her president and her congressman. As a loyal Republican, she likes them both – and that is where her predicament begins...

“I’m not putting Trump down at all because I’m very much a fan of his, but I’m still going to vote for Thomas. He’s a great guy and is very careful about how he wants our taxpayer money to be spent.”

Massie has fought the establishment of both parties since first winning his seat 14 years ago in the tea party era as a fierce deficit hawk...
Massie also helped lead the charge to direct the Justice Department to release its investigative files into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein...
He’s also been among the loudest Republican critics of the Iran war, which he said has made him a target for strong supporters of Israel...

In one of his closing ads, Massie reminds voters that he has often stood with Trump...

“I agree with President Trump a whole lot more than I disagree with him. The list is long: the SAVE America Act to require proof of citizenship to vote, stopping immigrant welfare, fighting the woke agenda, defending the Second Amendment, protecting the life of the unborn, securing the border.”...

Massie faces Ed Gallrein, a farmer and former Navy SEAL whom Trump and his allies recruited into the race... Gallrein said as he announced his candidacy..."The president doesn’t need obstacles in Congress — he needs backup.” ...

“You can’t escape it. It’s everywhere,” Pugh said of the advertising deluge. “...I’m afraid he won’t make it this time. I don’t think he’s ever gone through anything like this.”

[rdcbn1]

Boebert lacks sound judgement, maturity and self discipline and she often does the kind of things that tend to confirm many of the crazy female stereotypes spread by misogynist back in the bad old days but she is cute, kind of fun and very entertaining to have around.

And, in her defense, her voting history is usually as good or better than those who style themselves serious policy wonks

Hope she does not melt down and go full MTG on us

[CFW]

Here is an opinion piece that I thought was interesting. It’s mostly about Cassidy but applies to Massie.

“Bill Cassidy Was Never Going to Survive His Own Record”

https://patriot.tv/bill-cassidy-was-never-going-to-survive-his-own-record/

This paragraph is spot on!

“The modern UniParty senator operates on a calculation so transparent it can be diagrammed. Vote with the Democratic caucus often enough between elections to keep the editorial boards friendly and the lobbyist class fed. Float bipartisan trial balloons on entitlements, on guns, on amnesty. Join the gang. Sign the framework. Then, six months out from the primary, dust off the conservative branding, schedule a rally, and trust that the base will either forget or conclude that the alternative is worse.”

[JayGalt]

Sorry No sale. The logistics have not been spelled out. There are more than that many chinese students here now. What do we get in return? Will the requirements & vetting change? Will the supervision and areas of study change? Visa requirements?

The devil is in the details. Anyone in business knows that the bottom line is much different than the sales pitch. President Trump needs to keep his plans close to his chest in negotiations.

The uoltimate aim is not to keep MAGA in the know along with every enemy and negotiation partner. The ultimate goal is to strengthen and protect America and to benefit the American people and the Nation. You need to step back and to trust before seeing the whole picture or MAGA fails. Do you have someone in the wings who would do a better job?
Don’t try and oppose the one champion we have. IMO we are at war and in war we support our team not the enemy. Like in the armed services have an opinion in private but follow the command or resign.

[Wuli]

Massie is like Rand Paul - loud voice, little achievement.

He’d be better off outside government complaining about those in government, instead of pretending he is there to make needed compromises to have more folks with him more often than not. If you think you must win 100% all the time, you don’t belong in politics.

[JayGalt]

It’s in her hands. I think Trump gave her room to step away from the precipice. It all depends on if she is wise enough to recalibrate.

[Ultra Sonic 007]

You are basically saying that we should "Trust the Plan".

Which worked out great with the QAnon nonsense, right?

President Trump needs to keep his plans close to his chest in negotiations.

Apparently, that only goes one way, because he has no problem talking about things (Chinese students, beef exports to China [after we literally relaxed tariffs on Argentina to allow beef imports from them due to how tight our domestic beef market is!], foreign ownership of farmland, and so on) that are guaranteed to piss off his core support base. What about the things that would actually be to the benefit of the average American?

Don’t try and oppose the one champion we have.

To say that we shouldn't oppose a politician when he does things that (a) go against core campaign promises, and/or (b) advance ideas or positions that you disagree with, is an utterly repulsive proposition that's anathema to the very concept of republican representation.

IMO we are at war and in war we support our team not the enemy.

Trump certainly doesn't seem to treat it that way.

Like in the armed services have an opinion in private but follow the command or resign.

Extending the military chain of command as though it's a useful analogy for political representation is ludicrous.

People will only tolerate getting kicked in the face so much before concluding that they've been betrayed.

If Trump loses his mantle as "champion", he will have no one to blame but himself.

[JayGalt]

Thank you for your thoughts. Certainly good people can disagree.

[Ultra Sonic 007]

Likewise.

[jimwatx]

“We bombed them because we wanted to, IE Trump and his advisors. You can’t blame Israel for the choices this nation made.”
*********************

His advisors were all against this except for Hegseth who is a moron. He reminds me of Jethro Bodine from the Beverly Hillbillies. CIA and intelligence agencies advised against it too. Trump himself said it was for Israel. So as things go absolutely to hell in this war and Iran emerges victorious (they only need to survive to win) the Israelis who dragged us into this will now lay all the blame on Trump? Yeah well not many people are gonna buy that.

[Mr Rogers]

“Bombing a country because Israel told you to”

Are you REALLY that funking stupid???!!!!

[cableguymn]

Im afraid he will make it and win the primary

[jimwatx]

No he is correct. Starting this war with Iran was never in US interests and the consequences of this war will be catastrophic for US global interests as a whole. Iran has basically kicked us out of the Gulf. The Gulf states are asking us where is the protection you promised us? Hell we couldn’t even protect our own bases in the Gulf. Trump has put Israel’s interests above the US which in my book makes him a traitor. The petrodollar is all but gone and things are not looking good for the West. So when the Dems assume power after the midterms and go after Trump I won’t be lifting a finger to defend him.

[central_va]

You think that is bad? I’ve come across posters that think the Apollo lunar landing was fake.

[central_va]

President Vance will correct the student visa fiasco.

[Mr Rogers]

“Iran has basically kicked us out of the Gulf.”

What color is the sky in the world where you live? Is there more than one sun?

“when the Dems assume power after the midterms and go after Trump I won’t be lifting a finger to defend him.”

Then who WILL you support? Or will you just wait for the democrats to destroy your life and the lives of your children?

[jimwatx]

You need to quit watching Fox news. The info you get from them concerning this war is total bs.

[Nervous Tick]

Bump for Tuesday night reckoning

[zeestephen]

CNN: "Massie has fought the establishment of both parties.."

Get freaking real, CNN!

[Wallace T.]

President Trump has been successful in defeating his RINO opponents in primaries, e.g., the defeat of Indiana legislators who opposed Republican redistricting and yesterday's defeat of Senator Cassidy in Louisiana. Five of the seven GOP Senators and eight of the ten GOP representatives who voted for impeachment are out of office. The political careers of Mitt Romney and Peter Meijer are over.

The libertarian and alt-right have millions of followers on social media but have few office holders. Tom Massie is one of the few. Trump has publicly denounced podcasters like Tucker Carlson for their opposition to the Iran war. If the candidate the President supports wins, it will indicate that Trump has suppressed the alt-right wing as he has the moderate wing.

[linedrive]

Trump denies that. I don’t understand why now we listen to Israel and for the previous 25 years we didn’t.
Sounds like Israel is used like the pro-life issue - a mechanism to recruit donations. Trump has done more in both arenas than any president. I see Trump trying to take those ‘issues’ off the board. To a degree, I believe he has; but his foresight on what it takes for removing Israel from the equation is more thought out and able to realize.

Don’t worry - eventually all nations will hate Israel, including the US. From your response I assume we are closer than I realize.