A record-breaking congressional primary election came to an end Tuesday night when Kentucky Representative Thomas Massie lost his seat to a candidate backed by Donald Trump. The race officially marked the most expensive House primary in United States history.
Massie conceded the race to his opponent, Ed Gallrein, but sparked immediate controversy with his closing remarks. During his concession speech, Massie told the crowd, “I would have come out sooner, but I had to call my opponent to concede and it took a while to find Ed Gallrein in Tel Aviv.”
The comment drew a sharp reaction during CNN’s election coverage. When anchor Sara Sidner asked conservative commentator Scott Jennings for his thoughts on the outcome, Jennings pointed directly to Massie’s legislative record and his fractured relationship with Trump.
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“Well, it was the most expensive House primary in U.S. history, and the president made it a priority to get rid of Thomas Massie, and he succeeded because Massie had frankly become an opponent of the president inside the party, and you just can’t do that,” Jennings said.
Jennings, who lives in the congressional district, noted that the area is deeply conservative and overwhelmingly supported Trump in 2024. He explained that voters were heavily influenced by ads focused on tax cuts and immigration, two areas where Massie had voted against Trump’s major bills.
“They expect the Republican congressman who represents them to be part of the team,” Jennings said. “That campaign worked.”
Jennings then strongly condemned Massie’s concession speech remark, calling it “despicable” and “anti-Semitic nasty gutter politics at the end.”
“There was an undercurrent of anti-Semitism in this race on the Massie side,” Jennings added. “There’s been an undercurrent of it in his career, unfortunately, and it really came out in an ugly way tonight. I think it needs to be stated, acknowledged, and condemned because it was pretty despicable.”
Sidner concluded the segment by noting that Jennings was speaking from the perspective of someone who lives in and closely covers that specific Kentucky district.
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