‘Thomas Massie Deserves to Lose’: National Review Joins Trump in Calling for Rebel’s Head Over ‘Fringy, Toxic Ideology’

(Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via AP Images)

National Review‘s editorial board echoed President Donald Trump’s call for Rep. Thomas Massie’s (R-KY) political head on Monday.

Under the headline, “Thomas Massie Deserves to Lose,” the conservative magazine — which often dissents from the Trump — took his side in the long-running feud between the commander-in-chief and Kentucky congressman.

“We have a lot of time for quirky, go-it-alone libertarians, but prefer if they aren’t conspiracy theorists or noxious critics of Israel,” began the editorial. “The proximate reason for Massie’s political peril is that he’s crossed President Trump one too many times, most notably on the release of the Epstein files. Members of Congress aren’t appendages of the White House, and there’s obviously nothing wrong with a congressman bucking a president of his own party. But Massie’s independence is too often in service of dubious causes.”

After tsk-tsking him over his focus on the Epstein files and making “himself the Inspector Clouseau of the January 6 pipe bomb case, alleging a deep state inside job,” the editors turned THEIR attention to Massie’s rhetoric about the world’s only Jewish-majority state:

Like most right-wing conspiracy theorists, he has no use for Israel. Massie is a genuine isolationist, who opposes even sanctioning other countries, but his opposition to Israel is bitterly irrational. He boycotted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress and claims that every member of Congress has an AIPAC minder. He opposes all aid to Israel, even for Iron Dome, and routinely votes against pro-Israel resolutions. A couple of years ago, he posted a meme saying that Congress has turned its back on American patriotism in favor of Zionism. It’s telling, if not surprising, that a pro-Massie super PAC is running an ad in the race that portrays the billionaire investor and anti-Massie donor Paul Singer, who is Jewish, alongside a rainbow-colored Star of David.

It went on to argue that Massie’s primary opponent, Ed Gallrein, “won’t be an avatar for a fringy, toxic ideology like Massie,” before concluding:

We hope that the district’s voters on Tuesday will send Massie to a well-earned retirement, giving him the opportunity to join ally Marjorie Taylor Greene in airing their grievances and wild-eyed theories in the private sector.

— —

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!