Via David Codrea, news from Kentucky.
Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie, a libertarian-minded maverick who often clashes with GOP leaders, was renominated for a sixth House term. Trump savaged Massie in March as a “disaster for America” who should be ejected from the party after he forced lawmakers to return to Washington during a pandemic to vote on a huge economic relief package.
Here’s more.
Liz Cheney woke up with a lot of egg on her face this morning.
The Wyoming Republican and GOP establishment figure has long railed against Rep. Thomas Massie, and initially even backed his primary challenger, Todd McMurtry. However, Republican primary voters from Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District rebuked Cheney and reelected their libertarian-leaning congressman by an overwhelming margin in Tuesday’s primary. He secured a whopping 88% of the vote to McMurtry’s paltry 12%.
Massie, understandably, feels vindicated. “Tonight’s victory sends a strong message that Republican voters in the 4th District of Kentucky want someone to represent them in Washington who will consistently stand up on principle, defend life, and support the Constitution,” the congressman said.
In light of such an overwhelming electoral landslide in favor of a pro-liberty Republican and constitutional conservative, it’s worth rehashing the establishment’s campaign against Massie — if only to show how out of touch the swamp can be with the grassroots.
As an anti-interventionist stalwart and principled limited-government conservative, Massie has always been willing to vote against the establishment line. For example, Massie broke ranks with most Republicans to vote for a War Powers Resolution that reasserted Congress’s war powers and would have restricted the executive branch’s ability to launch unilateral military interventions. He voted against Paul Ryan for speaker of the House and has voted against so many establishment-backed spending packages and bills that he’s been dubbed “Mr. No” by the media.
The GOP establishment can’t stand legislators who aren’t afraid to buck the party line. They remind the GOP base of what it would look like if party leaders actually followed the principles they campaign on.
In particular, Massie angered Cheney, President Trump, and other Republicans when he demanded that Congress actually show up to vote on the $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief bill. (You know, just like how they were asking all essential workers to show up to work). For this apparently egregious insistence that Congress actually does its job as the Constitution mandates, the establishment denounced Massie.
Even Trump blasted Massie, calling him a “third-rate grandstander” and tweeting a call to “Throw Massie out of Republican Party!”
Good. Anything that throws egg in the face of the establishment is alright with me. I’ve long supported Massie and called him one of the very few good men in Washington.
