Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) made a rare appearance on Fox News in a final push to hold on to his House seat.
The interview aired on Tuesday, as Kentucky voters head to the polls to choose between the seven-term incumbent and Trump-backed primary challenger Ed Gallrein in the state’s Republican primary.
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Massie’s appearance on the conservative cable news outlet was his first in 14 months. Massie recently claimed Fox had “blacklisted” him, presumably due to his intraparty feud with President Donald Trump.
“They’re afraid that if they give me a venue to speak, that the White House will shut them out,” the congressman said of Fox on Cincinnati Public Radio. “And they want access more than anything.”
Despite the supposed blacklist, Massie spoke with a Fox host on America’s Newsroom on the final day of his contested primary. Massie spent much of his airtime attacking his primary opponent and arguing that his constituents should reelect him.
“I’m the conservative running against an AI candidate without the I,” he said of Gallrein, who has been criticized for seemingly posting an artificially generated campaign message on social media before deleting it.
Massie also accused Gallrein of skipping eight head-to-head debates.
“He is terrified of debating,” the incumbent said. “People don’t know who he is. I did three events yesterday. Every one of them had more attendees than the Secretary of War’s event.”
War Secretary Pete Hegseth stumped for Gallrein at a campaign rally on Monday in Hebron, Kentucky. The area is located in Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District, which Massie has represented since 2012.
“They are panicked because the president has done 11 posts about this race in the last 72 hours and sent the Secretary of War,” the congressman added.
One of Trump’s recent Truth Social posts compared Massie to Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), who lost his primary to two Republican challengers on Saturday. Hoping for a similar outcome in the Kentucky primary, the president said Massie was “worse” and an “even bigger insult to our Nation” than Cassidy.
Trump also went after Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), who campaigned for Massie in his state over the weekend, by threatening to back a primary candidate to challenge Boebert.
THOMAS MASSIE RACE SETS HOUSE PRIMARY SPENDING RECORD
In the Kentucky primary, polling locations close at 6 p.m. Tuesday. Voters who are still in line at that time will be allowed to cast their ballots.
Recent polls show Gallrein with a slight lead, but the margin between them is too close to call. Earlier surveys had Massie in the lead, which narrowed after Trump endorsed Gallrein.
