Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) said Monday that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s appearance in Kentucky to give a campaign speech for retired Navy SEAL Ed Garlain was a sign that the Republican challenger’s campaign is “imploding.”
Hegseth, who works with President Trump to oversee U.S. military operations in Iran, appeared with Gallain at a rally in Hebron, Kentucky, on Monday. Trump endorsed the former soldier in the contentious campaign.
“How much personal time do you have when you’re monitoring the Iran war?” Massey told CBS News. “If you thought your candidate was ahead by 10 points, you wouldn’t send the secretary of war to Kentucky during the war. That’s what you would do when you realize your entire campaign is imploding.”
Massie and Trump have been at odds with Trump after Massie co-led a push for the Justice Department to release all files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The president has long railed against moderate Republicans, and the congressman has recently criticized the Iran war.
“He knows I’m going to be hard to beat,” Massie told the outlet. “He literally lost sleep in this game because he had both feet. I think their polls are showing what our polls are showing, which is that we have more than a half chance of winning this race. “
The incumbent, who represents Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District, said the millions of dollars spent by pro-Israel interest groups like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and Republican donor Miriam Adelson disrupted the campaign more than Trump did, causing his approval rating in the district to drop from 80 percent to 60 percent.
“I think what was originally a 60-40 race is now a 50-50 race,” Massie told CBS News. He later called the race “a referendum on whether the Israel lobby can buy seats in Congress.”
Hegseth’s appearance in Kentucky on Monday was considered unusual, with some critics questioning whether it violated the Hatch Act. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell previously told The Hill that the secretary of state attended the event “in a personal capacity,” which Hegseth also said at the event.
The defense secretary told Kentucky voters in his speech that Trump “needs reinforcements, and that’s what warriors do.”
“Warfighters understand mission, they understand teamwork, they understand loyalty, they understand that in combat, you can’t weaken your side to advance the objective, and that’s what Edgar Rein understands because he’s been through this,” Heggs said.
He also accused Massey of “grandstanding” and painted him as an obstructionist who “acted for years as if being difficult equaled bravery. That’s not the case.”
The primary comes days after another Republican senator, Bill Cassidy, who has criticized the president, failed to gain a seat in the weekend Louisiana primary, which will lead to a runoff in June.
Cassidy, one of the few Republicans still in Congress, voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial, which focused on Trump’s attempts to cling to power after the 2020 election and his alleged role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
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