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Trump Calls on MAGA Base to Oust GOP Rep. Demanding Epstein Files Release
Donald Trump has declared war on Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie, calling on his MAGA base to vote him out in the 2026 midterms over what appears to be a mix of personal vendetta, political defiance, and a shared third rail: Jeffrey Epstein.
dailyboulder.com
President Donald Trump has declared war on Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie, calling on his MAGA base to vote him out in the 2026 midterms over what appears to be a mix of personal vendetta, political defiance, and a shared third rail: Jeffrey Epstein.
“Third Rate Congressman Thomas Massie, a Weak and Pathetic RINO from the Great Commonwealth of Kentucky, a place I love, and won big SIX TIMES, must be thrown out of office, ASAP!” Trump fumed late Friday night on Truth Social.
The outburst followed months of Massie digging in his heels against the Trump administration—from opposing budget bills to publicly challenging the president’s handling of the long-shadowed Epstein case. Massie, joined by Democrat Ro Khanna, has spearheaded a discharge petition in Congress to force the release of long-sought investigative files related to Epstein’s sex trafficking network. Trump’s name is rumored to be in those files.
And now, the knives are out.
Trump’s late-night tirade also included a claim that Massie is polling at just 9% in Kentucky. That number appears inflated—or at least pulled from thin air. But there is some smoke. A small June poll from Kaplan Strategies showed Massie with only 23% favorability among likely GOP primary voters, and just 14% support in a matchup against a Trump-endorsed challenger.
Trump is trying to turn that into fire.
He’s throwing his support behind Captain Ed Gallrein, a Navy SEAL-turned-political hopeful who lost a state Senate race last year. “Unlike ‘lightweight’ Massie, a totally ineffective LOSER who has failed us so badly, CAPTAIN ED GALLREIN IS A WINNER WHO WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN,” Trump wrote. “Should he decide to challenge Massie, Captain Ed Gallrein has my Complete and Total Endorsement. RUN, ED, RUN – MAGA!”
It’s a clear call to arms from Trump to oust one of the few Republican holdouts who still openly challenges the MAGA machine.
But if Trump is expecting a quiet exit from Massie, he may be in for a longer fight. The Kentucky Congressman has been anything but passive, raking in over $1.7 million this summer in campaign fundraising. He’s also been rallying support with libertarian icon and fellow Kentuckian Senator Rand Paul, another vocal Trump critic.
At the heart of the tension is the Epstein scandal, and Massie’s unrelenting push for transparency—even as the administration has tried to close the door on further disclosures.
“I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy,” Trump once told New York magazine back in 2002. “He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”
That quote has only grown more radioactive since Epstein’s 2019 death in federal custody—a death the DOJ and FBI recently concluded was a suicide, with no secret “client list” found, despite years of speculation. The Trump administration has echoed those findings and refused to pursue the case further.
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Then came the bombshell: Trump hasn’t ruled out a pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s co-conspirator, now serving a 20-year sentence. That raised eyebrows not just among Democrats but within his own party—especially after Maxwell appeared to go out of her way to absolve Trump during a private meeting earlier this year with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who also happens to be Trump’s defense lawyer.
Massie isn’t letting it slide. His bipartisan petition with Khanna aims to force a House vote demanding the Justice Department cough up what’s left of the Epstein files, including unredacted witness interviews, case logs, and possibly, names.
If the White House hoped the Epstein story had finally run out of road, Massie is proving otherwise. Last week, he rubbed it in even more—publicly praising his alma mater, MIT, for turning down federal funding tied to Trump’s Department of Education policies, another ideological jab at the administration he increasingly sees as authoritarian-lite.
Massie’s push for the Epstein files puts him in the line of fire—not just politically, but personally. Trump’s attacks have become more than just electoral strategy; they’ve turned vindictive, leaning hard on the MAGA base to snuff out dissent.
Read Trump’s entire post below:
