If only Trump liked KY’s GOP Senate candidates as much as he hates Massie | Opinion
Larry, Moe, and Curly, otherwise known as the Republican Party’s U.S. Senate primary frontrunners, must wish that President Donald Trump would give them even a fraction of the time he spends thinking about Republican Congressman Thomas Massie.
First off, all that sucking up to see who can be the best boy must be exhausting. Then they rush to Hebron on Wednesday to genuflect before their hollow idol, and all they got was the tiniest shoutout. No endorsement. No real love. They’ll have to keep up the mindless, undignified vying for Papa’s attention a few months longer.
Instead, we got to see how much Massie’s rebelliousness and intransigence has lodged inside Trump’s brain.
“Get rid of this loser,” Trump said. “This guy is bad. He’s disloyal to the Republican Party, he’s disloyal to the people of Kentucky, and, most importantly, he is disloyal to the United States of America.”
What Trump meant was, “disloyal to ME.” And in the cult that exists around the 47th President, that’s definitely verboten.
But for all those insults, it’s clear that Trump has a kind of begrudging admiration for people who stand up to him. Even while he’s trying to swat Massie like a bug.
It’s like the two visits that New York City’s Democratic Socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani paid to the White House, uncowed. When Mamdani gave Trump that fake New York Post cover, the normally unsmiling Trump gave a true, full-teeth grin.
It’s also similar to Trump’s first term relationship with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Politico described Trump’s “grudging respect” for Nancy Pelosi: “He treats her as a peer who commands her chamber with a firm hand, and he knows she can deliver on votes, and that she is willing to call any bluff at any time.”
You can’t buy that kind of reluctant respect, no matter how many times you debase yourself or say racist things in television ads.
What the Three Stooges don’t understand is that real principles, integrity, and courage get bullies’ — and voters’ — attention.
That, plus a banger social media game.
That’s what we’ve learned about Massie in the past year — he’s still a true conservative, with his devotion to guns, raw milk and low taxes. But he doesn’t like child sex abuse or unauthorized wars, and he’s not afraid to say so. Unlike 99% of his fellow Republicans.
If Trump’s gambit works, and Ed Gallrein wins the 4th District primary, then Massie can go back to his farm and live with himself, knowing he stood up for his beliefs, he kept his honor and dignity.
But let’s hope the 4th District voters recognize that a politician who will stand up for the Constitution or for Epstein’s victims because he believes it’s the right thing to do — even in the face of the most powerful man in the world —will also stand up for them. And that’s the kind of elected officials we need more than ever.
This story was originally published March 12, 2026 at 10:06 AM.
