Rand Paul backs Thomas Massie against Trump-endorsed primary challenger

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said he would support libertarian lawmaker Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., as he faces a primary challenge from a candidate backed by President Donald Trump.

Trump endorsed staunch loyalist and former Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein last week after calling for a 2026 candidate to rival Massie, who continues to pressure the administration to release remaining files related to the Jeffrey Epstein investigation.

Massie has opposed Trump and his party on other issues; This included voting against the president’s spending bill over the summer and confirming that Trump needed congressional approval to declare war. Paul, who also opposes Trump, voted against the bill in the Senate and criticized the administration for continuing military strikes without permission from lawmakers.

Paul now supports Massie’s re-election campaign and promises to help him retain his House seat.

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“Thomas Massie is going to win,” Paul told POLITICO. “I will help him. I will be with him every step of the way.”

Paul said Massie represents an “independent voice” within the GOP after repeated disagreements with the party, but noted that both Massie and he support Trump’s agenda “significantly more” than other Republicans who have sought to remain close allies of the president.

“Those who are getting close to him, who want regime change in Venezuela and who want to send more advanced weapons to Ukraine, these are interventionists from the interventionist wing of the party who have never been truly close allies,” Paul said. “These are the people who always oppose Donald Trump.”

Paul said he and Massie would continue to push for “balanced budgets, low taxes and fewer foreign wars” as well as “enumerated powers.”

The Kentucky senator said Trump’s efforts to single out Massie should cause concern for all Republican lawmakers, highlighting the potential political ramifications of opposing the president’s agenda.

President Donald Trump backed vocal stalwart and former Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein after calling for him to be chosen to challenge Rep. Thomas Massie in 2026. (Left: Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Right: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

“This is a warning sign,” he said. “‘If you oppose me or any of my policies, I will come after you.’ “I don’t think this is good for the Republican Party or the country.”

The senator also said he was tired of being the Republican Party’s “whipping boy” because many of his colleagues always asked him to “do their job for them” when they were afraid to tell Trump whether their nominee had a vote in the Upper House.

“They say, ‘Oh, you’re not afraid of the president. Tell him his candidate can’t win,'” Paul said. “So, I’m tired of always being the whipping boy. [being] “The only person who has the courage to stand up and tell the president the truth.”

Paul has also faced Trump’s ire in recent months, but he continues to hold his own. He has recently criticized the administration’s military strikes against boats that he accuses without evidence of carrying narco-terrorists.

Paul expressed concern about the possibility of killing people without due process and killing innocent people. He cited Coast Guard statistics showing that a significant percentage of boats boarded on suspicion of drug smuggling are innocent.

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Sen. Rand Paul said Rep. Thomas Massie represents an “independent voice” within the GOP. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Earlier this week, Paul revealed he wasn’t invited to a White House lunch with other GOP senators because of his disagreements with Trump. But Paul said he already had a pre-planned “Freedom Meeting Luncheon” with Massie during this time.

Paul also campaigned with Massie last month and said he plans to do so again in the near future.

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“We had big rallies and great support. So people think they can go to Kentucky and buy a seat with a bunch of New York money. There’s another thing coming,” Paul told POLITICO.

Massie easily won the GOP primary for her district in 2024, taking 76% of the vote before advancing unopposed to the general election.