OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
9:00 AM – Wednesday, May 20, 2026
Ousted U.S. Representative Thomas Massie did not hold back criticism of the Trump administration in his concession speech after losing to his Trump-backed challenger, Navy SEAL veteran Ed Gallrein, in Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District Republican primary.
Massie (R-Ky.) began his speech on Tuesday evening with a jab at Gallrein for receiving funding from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a bipartisan non-profit organization that lobbies for strong military and economic aid for Israel.
“I would’ve come out sooner, but I had to call my opponent and concede. And it took a while to find Ed Gallrein in Tel Aviv,” Massie commented.
Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) responded to this remark on X, saying that he wished Massie hadn’t said it.
Despite his joke, Massie stated that he and his team were on the side of moral superiority.
“We’ve been honorable the whole time,” he noted, confirming that he conceded the race.
He later added, “Contrary to all the BS you’ve heard, we’ve never had a single ethics complaint filed against me or my staff in 14 years.”
He also emphasized his focus on “principles,” rather than politics, later saying, “There is a yearning in this country for somebody who will vote for principle over party.”
“For 14 years, those SOBs in Washington tried to buy my vote. They couldn’t buy it,” he continued. “Why did the race get so expensive? Because they decided to buy the seat. … Look, they used a lot of dirty tricks, but we stayed the course. We did not — we didn’t bend a knee, we didn’t throw a foul ball, we didn’t do any of those things — we didn’t kneecap anybody.”
“We ran a clean race,” he asserted.
He also did not pull punches from President Donald Trump and his White House during the 20-minute speech.
Massie explained that he watched Fox News for the first time in months, where he learned more about one of Trump’s current projects: Building a ballroom for the White House to host large events, such as the presidential inauguration. Meanwhile, Massie questioned the United States’ conflict with Iran, which has led Iran to block traffic going through the Strait of Hormuz, leading to higher oil prices.
“While gas is almost five dollars and diesel’s almost six, they’re talking about this big ballroom they’re going to build. And it looks like the Roman Empire, architecture from the Roman Empire. I see a few analogies there. And people are just trying to make ends meet,” he said.
Massie joined his audience in chanting, “No more war!” in protest of the Trump administration’s engagement in Operation Epic Fury in February, as well as the recent news that Trump was seriously considering striking Iran again and ending the weeks-long ceasefire agreement after little progress in negotiating a permanent peace plan.
Trump issued several consecutive Truth Social posts ahead of Massie’s election, urging Republicans to “vote the bum out.”
“Bad Congressman Tom Massie voted against Tax Cuts, the Border Wall, our Military and Law Enforcement. Actually, he voted against almost everything that is good,” Trump wrote earlier this week. “The Worst Republican Congressman in History. Kentucky, vote the bum out on Tuesday. We can’t live with this troublemaker for another two years. He is a true negative force.”
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