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Rove, Hemmer label Massie race a referendum on Trump: ‘There is a risk’

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by Ashleigh Fields - 05/19/26 3:00 PM ET

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by Ashleigh Fields - 05/19/26 3:00 PM ET

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Republican strategist Karl Rove and journalist Bill Hemmer on Monday both agreed that the outcome of the primary election in Kentucky will speak volumes to GOP incumbents as President Trump ups his efforts to oust Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.).

Massie is vying to hold onto his seat in the state’s 4th Congressional District against Ed Gallrein, a retired Navy SEAL who nabbed Trump’ endorsement.

“I see this race every bit as much about President Trump, as Massie and Gallrein,” Hemmer said during an episode of Fox News’s “America’s Newsroom.”

Rove said there was a clear divide between Gallrein and Massie, noting one was the “Trump guy” and the other is not. He also highlighted two risks from the outcome of the highly contested primary in the Bluegrass State.

“One is it expends a lot of resources in battle inside the party that could be spent on the general election,” Rove said. “And second of all, you know, there gets to be a point where people say, ‘You know, Mr. President, I don’t need to be with you 100 percent of the time.'”

“Look, there were people who voted against the Bush agenda. One of them was an Indiana congressman who voted against the prescription drug benefit,” the strategist continued. “His name was Mike Pence. But we would no more have thought about going after Mike Pence on that than the man on the moon, because you’re going to need that vote another day.”

Rove added that the threat of being ousted increases the chances of lawmakers breaking with the party on crucial votes.

“We saw this earlier this year, [Sen.] Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) in the Senate for example, said, ‘OK, I’m not running for reelection. The president made it clear that if I did, he wasn’t gonna be for me so I’m free. And what I’m gonna do is give him a heartburn on the issue of the Federal Reserve chairman,’” he said.

Despite the growing number of lawmakers who have opted to retire, Trump has remained laser focused on unseating lawmakers in the party who he feels have been “disloyal.”

In addition to Massie, the president has encouraged someone to primary Rep. Lauren Bobert (R-Colo.).

He was also successful in his bid to oust Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), one of the only remaining Republican lawmakers who voted to convict Trump after his second impeachment. Cassidy, who has also pushed back on the administration’s recent health policies, lost his primary bid on Saturday.

Trump on Tuesday put his support behind Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) over incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a move that upset many GOP senators.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who has clashed with Trump on occasion, called that decision a “surprise.”

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