Rand Paul vows support for Thomas Massie amid Trump-backed primary challenge

[Thiệu Ngô]

Paul said he’d help his Republican colleague keep his seat as he faces off against a Trump-endorsed challenger in 2026.

By Faith Wardwell

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) pledged to support his colleague Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) as he faces a Trump-backed primary challenge in 2026.

In an interview with POLITICO’s Dasha Burns for “The Conversation,” Paul said threats lobbed at Massie from President Donald Trump and others close to the president should raise alarms for any lawmaker, and vowed to help his Kentucky colleague maintain his seat.

“Thomas Massie is going to win,” Paul said. “I’m going to help him. I’m going to be with him every step of the way.”

Tensions have reached a boiling point between Massie and the president in recent months, with the congressman needling Trump and top GOP leaders on a string of key issues — pushing to scale back presidential war powers, bucking Trump’s congressional megabill and demanding the full release of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

Trump answered with force, backing Ed Gallrein — a vocal Trump loyalist who earned a preemptive endorsement from the president last week — to challenge Massie in the primary contest.

“This district is Trump Country,” Gallrein said this week after launching his campaign. “The president doesn’t need obstacles in Congress — he needs backup.”

Paul said Massie represents an “independent voice” within the party after his repeated splits, but argued both Massie and himself support Trump’s agenda “significantly more” than other Republicans who have now closely aligned themselves with the president.

“The people who’ve gotten close to him who want regime change in Venezuela and want to send more advanced weaponry to Ukraine, those are the interventionists from the interventionist wing of the party who have never been the ones really closely allied,” he said.

Paul said Trump’s targeting of Massie should raise red flags for all Republican lawmakers, adding the president’s show of force sheds light on the potential consequences of defying the president’s agenda.

“It’s a warning sign,” he said. “‘Oppose me or any of my policies and I’ll come after you.’ And I don’t think that’s good for the Republican Party, nor do I think it’s good for the country.”