[The Hill] President Trump will venture to northern Kentucky on Wednesday in a forceful effort to topple a sitting Republican, Rep. Thomas Massie (Ky.), who has emerged as the president’s most vocal GOP antagonist in the Capitol.
Trump is scheduled to visit a packaging plant in Hebron in Massie’s 4th Congressional District, where the president has endorsed Massie’s primary opponent, Ed Gallrein, a former Navy SEAL officer who’s vowing to stick by Trump and "deliver America First results for Kentucky."
The visit comes amid the U.S.-Israel attacks on Iran, which are shaping up to be a potent issue in the race after Massie voted last week in opposition to Trump’s unilateral strikes — a lonely position in a GOP conference where only one other Republican crossed the aisle to demand that Trump get congressional approval to continue the operations.
The Kentucky primary, slated for May 19, is being closely watched as a gauge of Trump’s continued grip on the GOP at a time when he’s facing low approval ratings, a tough midterm cycle when he’s not on the ballot, and internal accusations that he’s abandoned the "America First" pledge that swept him back into office.
Massie, perhaps more than any other Republican in Congress, has been forceful in airing those criticisms. And he’s not letting up just because the primary is getting closer.
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