Voters in six states head to polls with Kentucky’s Massie facing Trump’s fury – US politics live | US news
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Hegseth breaks tradition of sharing stage with Massie rival Gallrein
Defense secretary Pete Hegseth visited Kentucky on Monday to support Thomas Massie’s opponent, Ed Gallrein, in a serious break with tradition.
Hegseth said he was speaking “as a citizen” and Gallrein was a “fighter.”
“When President Trump first offered me this job, he said, ‘Pete, you’re going to have to be very tough,'” Hegseth said.
“But that’s also what Ed represents – a warrior, a man shaped through service.”
“As a private citizen, an American, and a fellow combat veteran, I am here to support Navy Seal Ed Gallrein,” he added.
“President Trump doesn’t need more people in Washington, especially from his own party, trying to make a point; he needs people willing to help him win to vote for him when it matters most.”
Voters in six states head to the polls with all eyes on the Kentucky primary race
Hello, welcome to the live blog of US politics.
Voters will go to the polls today in primaries in six states, with the election in Kentucky seen as a test of Donald Trump’s grip on the Republican party.
Trump launched a tirade against the state’s congressman, Thomas Massie, over the weekend as he tried to unseat him.
Massie is one of very few senior Republicans who dared to challenge Trump, and the president called him “the worst and most untrustworthy Republican Congressman in the history of our Country.” He called on Kentucky voters to “vote for the tramps on Tuesday” on social media.
Massie has been a constant thorn in Trump’s side by voting against the signature tax and spending cuts bill, helping force the justice department to release the Jeffrey Epstein files, and insisting on congressional oversight of military actions in Venezuela and Iran. Now he faces a bitter primary against a Trump-backed rival. Ed Gallrein.
Republican voters in Kentucky will also choose their nominee to replace retiring former Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell. Candidates to replace McConnell include congressman Andy Barr and former state attorney general and gubernatorial candidate Daniel Cameron.
Among Democrats, Charles Booker and Amy McGrath, who lost their Senate races in the state in 2022 and 2020, respectively, are running once again for their party’s nomination.
Meanwhile, voters in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Alabama, Oregon and Idaho will also go to the polls to choose candidates ahead of the midterm elections in November.
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