Rich Lowry, editor-in-chief of the conservative magazine National Review, published an op-ed by the editors Tuesday titled ‘Thomas Massie Deserves to Lose,’ and wrote of the Republican Kentucky Congressman: “We hope that the district’s voters on Tuesday will send Massie to a well-earned retirement, giving him the opportunity to join ally Marjorie Taylor Greene in airing their grievances and wild-eyed theories in the private sector.”
The NR editors wrote: “We have a lot of time for quirky, go-it-alone libertarians, but prefer if they aren’t conspiracy theorists or noxious critics of Israel,” and argued, “The proximate reason for Massie’s political peril is that he’s crossed President Trump one too many times, most notably on the release of the Epstein files.”
Frankly, Rich, you’ve turned into a snivelling bootlicker. You’ve never presented as a man’s man, but now you’re even more of a soyboy than ever before. Get off the stage, your time has passed.
— Chris Cummings (@ccummings1967) May 18, 2026
[NOTE: Earlier this month, former U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) received a standing ovation at the Ron Paul Institute spring conference when she recounted the day when President Trump asked her — and she refused — to remove her name from the discharge petition to push for a complete release of the Epstein Files. Massie sponsored the discharge petition with Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA).]
Lowry’s post about Massie is receiving a lot of backlash on social media.
The most viewed response is from X user “Chris Cummings” who replied to Lowry: “Frankly, Rich, you’ve turned into a sniveling bootlicker. You’ve never presented as a man’s man, but now you’re even more of a soyboy than ever before. Get off the stage, your time has passed.”
Libertarian commentator Tom Woods also replied: “Wait a minute! National Review endorses the machine candidate?? This is shocking and completely unexpected!!”
Woods also shared the Interactive Polls graphic below showing that Massie has raised more than $1.8 million in small-dollar donors (under $200 per person). His opponent, the Trump-backed Ed Gallrein, raised close to $198k by small-dollar donors.
KY-04: Total amount donated by small-dollar donors (under $200 per person)
Thomas Massie: $1,874,603.23
— InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) May 19, 2026
Conservative political pundit Ann Coulter is also voicing her support for Massie. She wrote: “Massie’s not only the most conservative member of congress – in the freedom and constitutionalist sense – but also the smartest. He graduated from MIT with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering and while there, invented a haptic computer interface, founded a technology company in his dorm room, got dozens of patents, and made millions of dollars. Today the tech he invented is used in surgical training, robotics, and molecular research, among other things.”
Alex Clark, a Turning Point USA podcast host, also wrote: “The commentary online I’m seeing insinuating that ‘Thomas Massie is a Democrat’ because he spars with Trump is literal retard boomer propaganda for the lowest of IQ individuals. Massie is probably the most conservative member of Congress what are you even talking about? Massie sticks to conservative principles even when politically inconvenient which is WHY Trump doesn’t like him. Trump doesn’t want you to vote for Massie over vanity reasons not because he is a ‘Democrat’.”
The commentary online I’m seeing insinuating that “Thomas Massie is a Democrat” because he spars with Trump is literal retard boomer propaganda for the lowest of IQ individuals. Massie is probably the most conservative member of Congress what are you even talking about? Massie…
— Alex Clark (@yoalexrapz) May 17, 2026