{"id":450680,"date":"2026-05-20T05:43:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T05:43:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/450680\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T05:43:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T05:43:10","slug":"anti-israel-republican-ousted-from-congress-as-donald-trump-endorsee-wins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/450680\/","title":{"rendered":"Anti-Israel Republican ousted from Congress as Donald Trump endorsee wins"},"content":{"rendered":"

The only Republican to refrain from supporting Israel in the immediate aftermath of Hamas\u2019s October 7, 2023<\/a>, attack will exit Congress following a decisive primary loss on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Rep. Thomas Massie, who has represented Kentucky\u2019s 4th Congressional District since 2013, lost to Ed Gallrein, an endorsee of US President Donald Trump<\/a> who drew support from pro-Israel PACs.<\/p>\n

Massie conceded the election<\/a> on Tuesday night – but not without a dig at Gallrein\u2019s purported relationship to Israel.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would\u2019ve come out sooner, but I had to call my opponent and concede. And it took a while to find Ed Gallrein in Tel Aviv<\/a>,\u201d he said in his concession speech.<\/p>\n

With almost all ballots counted on Tuesday night, Gallrein had drawn 55% of the votes.<\/p>\n

\"EdEd Gallrein, Republican congressional candidate for Kentucky, greets U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on stage during an event one day before Gallrein’s primary against Rep. Thomas Massie, May 18, 2026 in Hebron, Kentucky. (credit: JON CHERRY\/GETTY IMAGES)<\/p>\n

The result means that Massie, the most anti-Israel Republican in Congress and the only Republican to vote at times with far-left Democrats on measures opposing Israel, will leave Congress at the end of the year.<\/p>\n

The Republican Jewish Coalition, which long opposed Massie, congratulated Gallrein in an extensive statement that cast the primary as a referendum on the Republican Party\u2019s recent divide over Israel. The party is increasingly split between acolytes of Trump and those who believe Trump has been too accommodating to Israel.<\/p>\n

Matt Brooks: ‘No place’ for anti-MAGA Republicans<\/p>\n

\u201cKentucky Republicans sent an unmistakable message: there is no place in the Republican Party for those who turn their back on the MAGA agenda,\u201d said CEO Matt Brooks.<\/p>\n

He added, \u201cWe know that Ed Gallrein, a 5th-generation Kentucky farmer, decorated Navy SEAL, and true MAGA patriot, will serve with honor and distinction, as he has his entire career.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brooks criticized both Massie\u2019s record in Congress and his behavior as a candidate, saying, \u201cNotably, Massie\u2019s conduct throughout this campaign – trafficking in antisemitism and bottom-of-the-barrel nativism at a time when Jew-hatred is on the rise – was wildly unacceptable and outrageous from an elected member of Congress.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pro-Massie campaign ad condemned for antisemitism<\/p>\n

A widely condemned pro-Massie campaign ad last week claimed that a Gallrein win would bring \u201ctrans woke madness\u201d to Kentucky at the behest of billionaire Jewish Republican donor Paul Singer. The ad placed a rainbow Star of David next to a photo of Singer\u2019s head.<\/p>\n

The ad came amid a blitz that watchdogs say made the race the most expensive congressional contest in US history, with an estimated $32.6 million spent, according to the advertising-tracking firm AdImpact. That includes $5 million from a PAC affiliated with the Republican Jewish Coalition and a reported $2.6 million from PACs affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the pro-Israel lobby.<\/p>\n

Massie\u2019s record in Congress has placed him far outside the Republican mainstream. In October 2023, he voted with the progressive \u201cSquad\u201d against a resolution expressing support for Israel in the wake of the October 7 attack. The next month, he was the only member of Congress from either party to vote \u201cno\u201d on a resolution affirming Israel\u2019s right to exist. Last year, Massie called for ending all US military aid to Israel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The only Republican to refrain from supporting Israel in the immediate aftermath of Hamas\u2019s October 7, 2023, attack…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":450681,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[111,16607,7737,54,42,43,13819,40,38,41,39,2586],"class_list":["post-450680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-antisemitism","tag-antizionism","tag-congress","tag-donald-trump","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-republican","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=450680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/450681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=450680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=450680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=450680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}