Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie has doubled down on the false endorsement from President Donald Trump that he pushed during the opening hours of the state’s primary election day.
Is this the one? pic.twitter.com/YSxSLhQkW0
— Thomas Massie for Congress (@MassieforKY) May 19, 2026
Massie’s campaign had previously sent out a text message to voters in Kentucky’s Fourth District using a years-old headline from the Associated Press stating that Trump had endorsed Massie in the graphic. Also included was Trump’s 2022 endorsement of Massie, but the campaign cropped out the date of the endorsement which made it appear as if the congressman had the support of Trump heading into the election.
Kentucky election day shenanigans;
— ZitoSalena (@ZitoSalena) May 19, 2026
Massie campaign sends out to KY 4 voters via text a 2022 Trump
statement making it look like the president supports Massie today where he clearly supports Gallrein
Text ends with "Paid for by Thomas Massie for Congress
Reply STOP to opt-out" pic.twitter.com/cJwFB75Dkk
Trump, who actually endorsed Massie’s challenger Ed Gallrein, quickly issued a statement demanding that the Massie campaign withdraw the misleading text message and reiterated his support for Gallrein.
President Trump SLAMS "Horrible Congressman" Thomas Massie for sending out a "fraudulent" campaign text making it sound like Trump endorsed HIM instead of Ed Gallrein pic.twitter.com/irGwarvU0f
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) May 19, 2026
“I endorsed Ed Gallrein, a true American Patriot, which Massie knows full well, so the statement that he put out is fraudulent, just like HE is fraudulent,” Trump said in a post on social media.
While Massie may taunt Trump with the slimy strategy on social media, his use of Trump’s old endorsement as well as his insistence to portray the two as aligned in local political ads show that Massie is desperate to keep his name tied to the well-beloved Republican leader.
