Republicans attempting to oust Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie in a bitter primary are deploying his opposition to the war in Iran.
The Republican Jewish Coalition Victory Fund on Thursday planned to release an supporting Ed Gallrein, the candidate endorsed by President Donald Trump, that focuses on Massie’s opposition to the war.
“America is at war with a fanatical regime that seeks nuclear weapons. American hero Ed Gallrein stands with President Trump, our country and our military,” a narrator says in the 30-second spot, shared with POLITICO ahead of its release.
“Thomas Massie, he stands with Iran and radical leftists in Congress,” the narrator says, “opposing Trump just like he did on the border and taxes.”
The campaign ad appears to be among the first attempts to use the Iran war to support a candidate, a risky choice since polls show the high-risk operation is not popular with voters. Massie, who faces Gallrein in a May primary, is a top Trump target for a number of perceived sins — most notably because the outspoken Kentucky lawmaker successfully pushed with Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California for the release of the Epstein files.
The ad from the RJC Victory Fund was scheduled to drop hours after the House rejected an effort led by Massie and Khanna to force the president to halt the attack.
Massie claimed a win, though, by saying “we put everyone on record” about a military operation that “could last months.”
Massie has been outspoken in his opposition to the conflict in Iran, accusing Trump of forsaking his “America First” doctrine and challenging members of his own party to rein in the president’s ability to wage war without the approval of Congress.
As the RJC Victory Fund funneled millions of dollars into attacking him, Massie cast his race as “about whether the Global Military Industrial Complex and Israel’s government controls the United States” and began fundraising off his opposition.
Andrew Howard contributed to this report.
