Scott Jennings Lets Loose on Thomas Massie: ‘Despicable, Anti-Semitic, Nasty, Gutter Politics’

Conservative CNN commentator Scott Jennings pulled no punches on Tuesday night in blasting Rep. Thomas Massie’s (R-KY) concession speech following his primary loss to a Trump-backed opponent in the most expensive House primary in history.

Massie raised eyebrows across the political spectrum when he quipped, “I would have come out sooner, but I had to call my opponent to concede and it took a while to find Ed Gallrein in Tel Aviv.”

“What are your thoughts on what happened here?” CNN anchor Sara Sidner asked Jennings about the election results.

“Well, it was the most expensive House primary in U.S. history, and the president made it a priority to get rid of Thomas Massie, and he succeeded because Massie had frankly become an opponent of the president inside the party, and you just can’t do that,” Jennings replied, adding:

You know, Massie used to reliably vote with the Republicans. That number had been falling over time. This is one of the most conservative districts in the country—certainly a conservative area of Kentucky. They gave Donald Trump a massive victory in 2024, and they expect the Republican congressman who represents them to be part of the team.

The two big issues in the race that were featured in most of the advertising had to do with tax cuts and immigration. Massie was against Trump on both his big border security and tax cut bills, so they said, “Look, we can get a Republican congressman who will be part of the team and support the president.” That campaign worked.

I just want to also add one other thing: Thomas Massie, tonight in his concession speech, said something despicable—anti-Semitic nasty gutter politics at the end. What a way to go out! He said, “I would call Ed Gallrein, but, you know, I had to find him in Tel Aviv.” There was an undercurrent of anti-Semitism in this race on the Massie side. There’s been an undercurrent of it in his career, unfortunately, and it really came out in an ugly way tonight. I think it needs to be stated, acknowledged, and condemned because it was pretty despicable.

“All right, so that’s the perspective from the district in which you also live and have been watching all this,” replied Sidner to Jennings’s take.

Watch the clip above via CNN.

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!