Trump's revenge tour comes for Massie

Today's Kentucky primary is President Trump's biggest test yet of whether his iron grip on the Republican base can hold even as war and inflation batter his national standing. Why it matters: Trump is trying to take out longtime antagonist Thomas Massie in the most expensive House primary in history — a contest that will show whether his iconoclastic brand of libertarian politics still has a place in the GOP. Until now, the seven-term Massie had never faced a serious threat to reelection. Trump changed that. Trump's political operation launched an aggressive effort to unseat Massie last year, its first such effort to defeat a sitting Republican incumbent. The fight between Massie and Trump -backed rival Ed Gallrein has drawn more than $32 million in ad spending, according to AdImpact. Driving the news: Trump has spent months portraying Massie as disloyal to the MAGA movement . He's called Massie a "moron," a "nut job" and "major Sleazebag." "He is the Worst "Republican" Congressman in History," Trump posted on Truth Social Sunday. At a March rally in Massie's district , Trump said: "Give me somebody with a warm body to beat Massie, and I got somebody with a warm body, but a big, beautiful brain, and a great patriot." The other side: "They want 100% compliance," Massie said of the White House. "I vote with the President 90% of the time. I voted for the SAVE Act. I voted for DHS. In fact, by most scorecards, I'm the most conservative Republican, so it's only the 10% of the time they're mad about." Between the lines: Trump has taken out a number of Republican politicians who cross him. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), a top target of the president, lost his reelection bid when he failed to finish in the top two in a primary Saturday. Trump also exacted retribution on a group of Indiana Republican state legislators who blocked his push to redraw the state's congressional map. Five of the seven lost their primaries last month. And Re...

Original source: Axios