Massie vs. Gallrein: What's the skinny on the most expensive House primary in US history?



After winning the 2024 Republican primary for Kentucky's 4th Congressional District, Rep. Thomas Massie cleaned up in the general election, securing 99.6% of the vote. Yet his political career still may not survive 2026.

The MIT-trained engineer proceeded to force the issue of the Jeffrey Epstein files' release, speak out against the joint U.S.-Israeli entanglement in Iran, and pad his 86.79% lifetime Turning Point Action score. He also managed to once again draw the ire of President Donald Trump, who faulted Massie for being "an automatic 'NO' vote on just about everything."

Months after vowing in March 2025 to "lead the charge" against Massie, Trump officially named his champion: Navy SEAL veteran Ed Gallrein.

The final polls conducted before the primary election indicate the race is virtually deadlocked.

Gallrein — who not only enjoys the president's backing but the support of numerous powerful individuals and organizations, including War Secretary Pete Hegseth, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce — is now poised to possibly oust Massie from the congressional seat he has held since 2012.

As he is running on a platform textually similar to Massie's, Gallrein has endeavored to distinguish himself from his competitor online and in rallies — but not in a debate — largely in terms of his relationship with Trump.

RELATED: Massie takes aim at AIPAC with new bill about Nazi-era law

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Gallrein has called Massie both a "turncoat" and a "roadblock to the America First agenda," noting, for instance, that Massie:

  • Opposed the U.S. entanglement with Iran;
  • Voted against a stopgap spending bill to keep the government funded;
  • Voted against a resolution the congressman said would unhelpfully equate "anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism"; and
  • Voted against the One Big Beautiful Bill Act — which the congressman said would "significantly increase U.S. budget deficits in the near term, negatively impacting all Americans through sustained inflation and high interest rates."

Gallrein has shared a graphic stating that Massie also voted against the SAVE America Act, even though the congressman voted against a particular rule then ultimately voted to pass the legislation.

Unlike Massie, who has apparently failed to toe the line and has been characterized in attack ads as "cheating with 'the Squad' on the America First movement," Gallrein has emphasized he will alternatively "stand with President Trump and put American first."

Vice President JD Vance has likewise said that Massie ultimately is not helpful for the Republican Party.

"Being independent, having your own opinions is one thing," Vance said at a TPUSA event six months ago. "Voting against the party on every single issue, you're eventually going to make too many enemies. And that is the problem that Thomas has had. It's not one issue. It's not three or four issues. It's that every time that we've needed Thomas for a vote, he has been completely unwilling to provide it."

The final polls conducted before the primary election indicate the race is virtually deadlocked.

A Neighborhood Research poll published on Friday found that the candidates were tied but that Gallrein "seems to be surging as the election comes to a close."

The poll found that Massie enjoyed a dominant 47-30 advantage among voters under 50, whereas Gallrein was leading 46-17 among women ages 50 and older. Men in the older cohort were split evenly between the two candidates.

The Public Polling Project also released a poll on Friday, this time finding that Massie led Gallrein among all likely voters 50.6% to 49.4%.

According to AdImpact, the battle between Gallrein and Massie for Kentucky's 4th Congressional District is the most expensive House primary on record, with $32.6 million spent on advertising.

The Republican Jewish Coalition has reportedly spent $4 million on ads supporting Gallrein. The AIPAC super PAC United Democracy Project has spent another $2.6 million helping Trump's champion.

In light of injections of cash into the primary battle by these and other pro-Israel groups, Massie has framed the race as a referendum on whether "Israel gets to buy seats in Congress."

Massie and pro-Massie groups Kentucky 4th PAC and Kentucky First PAC have also dumped a fortune into ads, including an ad accusing Gallrein of being "bought and paid for by the LGBTQ mafia."

A victory of Gallrein over Massie would be another scalp for Trump, who just in the past few weeks has seen crushing primary defeats for the Indiana state senators who defied him on redistricting and for Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who voted to convict Trump on impeachment articles related to January 6.

Trump noted in a Truth Social post on Monday, "The Great People of Kentucky are wise to Massie — He only votes against the Republican Party, making life very easy for the Radical Left. Unlike 'lightweight' Massie, a totally ineffective LOSER who has failed us so badly, CAPTAIN ED GALLREIN IS A WINNER WHO WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN."

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‘I do nothing for the approval of man’: Riley Gaines delivers masterclass response after Trump’s ‘not a big fan’ jab



On April 12, Riley Gaines responded to President Trump’s controversial AI-generated meme depicting him as Jesus with the following X post:

After deleting his post, President Trump was asked by reporters if he removed the image because of the criticism from Gaines and other conservatives. He responded, “I didn't listen to Riley Gaines. I'm not a big fan of Riley, actually.”

Gaines posted a video response on April 14, in which she stood by her original comments on Trump’s post but also expressed continued support for the president and his America First agenda.

BlazeTV host Pat Gray admired Gaines’ response and thought she handled the tough situation with tact. On a recent episode of “Pat Gray Unleashed,” he and the panel played Gaines’ video response and reacted to it.

“I love the president. I support the president. I'm always in his corner. I think he's like a master troll, if you will. But for the life of me, I just can't understand why he would post something like this,” said Gaines.

She then addressed her original April 12 post. “I said, two things are true. Number one, a little humility would serve President Trump well. And second, God shall not be mocked. ... The comments were filled with people calling me a RINO and a grifter and a closeted liberal who's trying to destroy President Trump.”

But Gaines doubled down on her support for the president despite the offensive image and his personal jab at her.

“Following his comments, I have had a plethora of reporters from left-wing media reach out to me for comment, trying to bait me into saying something bad about President Trump because he doesn't like me,” said Gaines.

“News flash: I don't do what I do or say what I say to be liked. If that were the case, I would stick behind the slogan of 'trans women are women.' I do what I do and say what I say because I have moral conviction.”

She then delivered her official response to Trump’s dig:

“To the reporters from CNN, ABC, CBS. I love the president, and I am so grateful and glad that he is in the Oval Office. I will continue to support him and the America First agenda. At the end of the day, I do nothing for the approval of man, no matter who that man is, including the president. Our main purpose on this earth is to glorify the Lord, our Creator, our Savior, in everything that we do.”

Gaines concluded her video response by expressing desire for President Trump and others to know Jesus.

“I just know that I want to spend eternity in a very real place called heaven, and I would love for the president to be there as well. ... I am going to keep doing my part by speaking the truth and doing my best to lead people to Christ and supporting the America First agenda.”

Pat calls Gaines’ video “fantastic.”

“Wow, what a great response,” he says, praising her for refusing to “ratchet up vitriol.”

He and co-host Jeffy agree with Gaines that Trump should have shown more humility over his post.

“Why not just come out and say, ‘Hey, you know, I posted it and then I thought, what am I doing? And I took it down.’ The end,” says Jeffy.

Pat concurs, “Yeah, then you don’t have this week-long situation going on.”

To see Gaines’ video and hear more of the “Unleashed” panel’s commentary, watch the video above.

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America First — or American Empire? Trump’s aggressive global moves signal a new doctrine



President Donald Trump spent years campaigning against the failures of American foreign policy — but not necessarily against American power itself.

Which is why Trump’s bold global moves suggest a doctrine that rejects nation-building and ideological crusades in favor of something far simpler: an America First approach to global dominance.

“It’s only March, but already it’s proven to be a pretty remarkably action-packed year. You know, just three days in, Trump successfully plucks up Nicolas Maduro from his bed in Venezuela, extradites him back to the United States, where he’s facing numerous felony charges stemming from involvement in narco-terrorism,” John Doyle explains.

“Then, the end of February, Trump launches Operation Epic Fury, of course, a military campaign to destroy Iran’s offensive capabilities,” he continues.


“On Tuesday, though, the U.S. and Ecuador launched a joint military operation against narcoterrorists in the South American country,” he adds.

But it appears that Trump is only getting started.

“A lot of analysts, I’ve been seeing this, are saying that Trump is perhaps planning an intervention in Cuba. ... In his second term, he’s floated the idea of, you know, a friendly takeover. We can guess how friendly such a takeover would actually be. But Trump’s clearly trying to frame Cuba as a failing state, which it is,” Doyle says.

And while many Americans are skeptical of Trump’s recent actions, particularly Operation Epic Fury, Doyle points out that Trump is “doing what he thinks is best for America, not what’s best for abstractions like liberal democracy, not what’s best for transgender people in Timbuktu, what is best for America.”

“He does think in terms of empire. All of his criticism about American Empire has not been so much on the empire itself, but more on the people managing it. What does he say? ‘Our leaders are stupid,’” Doyle explains.

“His problem with us going into Iraq was not that we went into Iraq necessarily, but that we went in to pursue a nation-building project, and we didn’t even take the oil. He said this as it was going on. He said this on the debate stage in 2016. This is pretty consistent for Donald Trump,” he says.

“And, of course, it’s true that Trump won the election in 2016 by denouncing, again, certain aspects of the American Empire — you know, our involvement in Iraq, Afghanistan. But it is incorrect ultimately to characterize Trump as opposed to empire itself,” he continues.

“In fact, if anything, the American Empire is actually doing a lot better with Trump at the helm,” he adds.

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Exclusive: GOP lawmaker warns Trump administration of looming China tech influence



Republican Rep. August Pfluger of Texas urged President Donald Trump's administration to address the "grave concerns" regarding China's global influence in tech, Blaze News has learned.

China is set to host the 2027 World Radiocommunication Conference, posing a threat to America's national security and giving our adversary the opportunity to shape the global telecommunications landscape. In a letter obtained exclusively by Blaze News, Pfluger is urging Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, and Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick to address China's looming influence or else "we risk being overtaken by our adversaries."

'We must use every tool at our disposal to counter China’s influence.'

"President Trump’s consistent leadership and support of an America First agenda to counter China is important now, more than ever," the letter reads.

"Our leadership in technology and innovation is at risk, and our allies may increasingly turn to China for telecommunications solutions, eroding our influence and compromising shared security interests."

RELATED: Congress takes aim at billionaires bankrolling left-wing 'hate campaigns' following Kirk assassination

Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Pfluger pointed to the many advantages China will have for hosting the conference and how it could threaten American tech dominance as well as national security.

"Hosting the WRC provides several significant advantages, including setting the agenda, guiding discussions, and influencing themes, thereby enabling the host country to exert substantial 'soft' influence over global telecommunications standards and policies," the letter reads.

Some of these policies and regulations that will be determined during the conference include allocating new spectrum bands for mobile broadband as well as regulating satellite communications, according to the letter.

"China’s role as host thus raises concerns about potential impacts on U.S. leadership in innovation and open, secure communications," the letter reads. "This, combined with the threat of espionage against government officials and participants, raises significant data security and national security concerns."

RELATED: GOP lawmaker introduces bill barring illegal aliens from 'sabotaged' census

Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images

"We must use every tool at our disposal to counter China’s influence and ensure the United States remains at the forefront of global telecommunications leadership," the letter reads. "As Members of Congress, we stand ready to provide the necessary support to assist the Administration in accomplishing these goals."

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Exclusive: Speaker Johnson says reconciliation will remain a 'partisan exercise,' won't rely on Democrats



Despite the GOP's historically narrow majority in the House, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told Blaze News in an exclusive interview Monday that he is planning to rely solely on Republicans to get reconciliation out the door.

The House is expected to vote on reconciliation tomorrow night, which would establish a budget blueprint for President Donald Trump's America First agenda. Although Johnson's "big, beautiful bill" earned an endorsement from Trump, Republicans can afford to lose only one vote on reconciliation. Even so, Johnson told Blaze News that all his efforts are focused on uniting Republicans behind the budget resolution.

'I'm convinced that, at the end, it's going to work.'

"Reconciliation, unlike everything else that is done in Congress, is always, by definition, a partisan exercise," Johnson told Blaze News. "It's going to reflect all of our red-meat policies, everything we ran on, campaigned on, and everything President Trump ran on. It's the America First agenda."

"We're not going to have any Democrats, which means we are going to have to have every single Republican," Johnson added.

Although Republicans were re-elected with a narrower majority compared to the previous Congress, Trump recruited two members of Congress, shrinking the GOP's margins even further.

Because of the increasingly slim margin, Johnson and the Republican leadership have dedicated nearly a year of negotiations to ensuring that their whole conference can get behind reconciliation.

'It's a lot of work, a lot of heavy work, high stakes, but a great reward when we get it done.'

"We've been working on this, really, since March of last year, when we first got the committee chairs to start talking about what they might be able to do in reconciliation in their areas of jurisdiction," Johnson told Blaze News. "We've had, I mean, almost a year's worth of work. ... All these things are necessary to get everybody to a consensus when you have such a small margin."

Even so, there are some hesitancies within the GOP. On one hand, several moderate Republicans in purple and blue districts say the budget cuts go too far, while fiscal hawks within the GOP say the cuts don't go far enough. But despite the ideologically diverse conference, Johnson is confident that Republicans will eventually get on the same page.

"I'm convinced that, at the end, it's going to work," Johnson told Blaze News. "None of us are going to get everything we want, but we will be able to pass what I think could be one of the most consequential pieces of legislation in many, many years, maybe decades.

"It's a lot of work, a lot of heavy work, high stakes, but a great reward when we get it done," Johnson added.

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Trump gives House budget his blessing despite Senate's lead in race for reconciliation



President Donald Trump yet again endorsed the House's reconciliation bill on Wednesday after the Senate advanced its own budgetary resolution on Tuesday night.

The Senate pressed on with its two-bill budget blueprint, teeing up a potential vote for later this week. The House, on the other hand, is positioned to vote on its reconciliation bill next week when members are back in session.

'We need both Chambers to pass the House Budget to "kickstart" the Reconciliation process, and move all of our priorities to the concept of, "ONE BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL." It will, without question, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!'

It's also worth noting that Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina introduced the Senate's proposal nearly a week before Speaker Mike Johnson finalized the House's budget.

Despite the recurring delays on the House side, Trump reiterated his support for "one big beautiful bill."

"The House and Senate are doing a SPECTACULAR job of working together as one unified, and unbeatable, TEAM, however, unlike the Lindsey Graham version of the very important Legislation currently being discussed, the House Resolution implements my FULL America First Agenda, EVERYTHING, not just parts of it!" Trump said in a Truth Social post Wednesday.

"We need both Chambers to pass the House Budget to 'kickstart' the Reconciliation process, and move all of our priorities to the concept of, 'ONE BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL.' It will, without question, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"

As Trump noted, the House bill tackles all the major policy priorities the administration is aiming to implement, including border provisions, defense spending, tax cuts, and spending cuts. Although the Senate's approach addresses the same issues, its two-bill approach splits the border and defense spending from the tax bill.

One key difference between the two proposals is that the House bill doesn't allow for a permanent extension of the Trump tax cuts from 2017, which Senate Majority Leader John Thune considers a dealbreaker.

Even still, it's clear that Trump has given Johnson's big, beautiful bill his blessing.

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