'He's a patriot': Joe Kent hails Thomas Massie after Kentucky primary loss

After suffering a defeat in the Kentucky primary against Ed Gallrein on Tuesday, Thomas Massie continued to receive praise from the former director of the United States National Counterterrorism Center, Joe Kent. Kent said that Massie would be walking out with his integrity intact. "As long as the voters give their votes to whoever can run the most ads, we will have politicians who are purchased by foreign governments & corporate interests," he added. 

The comment was a reference to the millions paid by political donors to push Gallrein's bid for the republican ticket after the former Navy SEAL officer received President Trump's endorsement. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth also went to the state and campaigned for Gallrein on a personal capacity. Fox News reported that Gallrein defeated Massie by a little more than 10,000 votes, bagging almost 55% of the vote share.

Trump loyalist and Sen. Ted Cruz claimed that Massie had stood in the way of delivering "real results." Massie, meanwhile, had a strong response to the claim. "I proudly stood in the way of your AI-data center amendment to the Big Beautiful Bill that would have given those companies immunity from the law. In fact, @mtgreenee and I got it stripped from the bill. Did your big tech cronies still let you cash their checks after you failed?" he asked.

Former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, too, lauded Massie for his role in the Epstein files release. In a post on X, she said that she was proud to serve in the House of Representatives with the Kentucky Congressman, calling him a "giant among weak pathetic men." She also claimed that releasing the Epstein files was the reason for both of their respective downfalls.

"Tonight, the future of the Republican Party was destroyed," she wrote. "The Real America First Movement will rise, led by the younger generations, who hate the old guard with an unquenchable passion. Let us pray that we have a country left by the time these creatures are gone." Meanwhile, the result will be seen as a huge victory for her former ally, President Trump.

None of the people endorsed by the President so far has lost their primary election. However, in his concession speech, Massie took a dig at his opponent, Gallrein. "I would have come out sooner, but I had to call my opponent to concede, and it took a while to find him in Tel Aviv," he said to his supporters after the results were clear.

Further criticizing the government, Massie continued, "For 14 years, those SOBs in Washington tried to buy my vote. They couldn't buy it. Why did the race get so expensive? Because they decided to buy the seat. And it got really expensive for them. They used a lot of dirty tricks, but we stayed the course."