Anti-Massie PAC pushes poll showing Northern KY congressman in trouble

Austin Horn, Lexington Herald-Leader on Aug 20, 2025

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President Donald Trump has made yet another swipe at fellow Republican and Northern Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie.

This time it came in the form of a poll posted to Trump’s Truth Social network late last week.

Trump posted a poll of 500 likely GOP primary voters in Massie’s 4th Congressional District, showing his support slipping dramatically. The poll, from Trump-backed PAC MAGA KY and conducted by veteran Trump pollster John McLaughlin, shows Massie’s net favorability swinging from 54-40 in June to 43-54 in early August.

The poll got some play in the Washington press, but Massie said it was way off base.

“This poll does not reflect reality in Kentucky’s 4th District,” Massie told the Herald-Leader. “The fact that every serious would-be opponent has rejected their recruiting efforts demonstrates this. They’ve been searching for months and still can’t find anyone gullible enough to put their name on the ballot.”

About 39% of the voters polled said that they had seen media recently that Massie “votes against Trump.” The poll said that the voters were 53% less likely to vote for Massie based on what they’ve seen, read or heard recently.

The new marks come after MAGA KY, a PAC funded by a handful of GOP-aligned billionaires, has aired several commercials bashing Massie for his stance against Trump’s agenda, namely the recent budget bill, support for Israel and actions in Iran. The PAC had raised $2 million as of June 31.

The poll also showed that Trump’s favorability among that population remains high, into the mid-80s, and more than half of voters said they’d be more likely to support a candidate if they got Trump’s backing, which Trump has said he intends to do.

Massie chided McLaughlin for previous polling that didn’t line up with the final result and the PAC for its funders, all of whom are staunch supporters of America’s relationship with Israel.

“MAGA Kentucky is not MAGA and not Kentucky. It’s three socially liberal globalist billionaires who are upset I don’t vote for wars and foreign aid,” Massie said.

During Trump’s second term, Massie has consistently been a thorn in the president’s side, speaking against the Trump agenda on a litany of issues, often from a libertarian-leaning perspective.

One of Massie’s most notable pushes has been on the files related to the deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, whose death, ruled a suicide, has stirred questions and conspiracies for years. Epstein’s ties to Trump have also been scrutinized.

Massies has been insistent on the full release of files related to Epstein, which reportedly contain Trump’s name. Massie pushed for this well before many of his GOP colleagues made the same argument. A news conference held by Massie and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California featuring Epstein victims is scheduled for early September.

State Sen. Aaron Reed, R-Shelbyville, is the most commonly rumored candidate for the seat. Having been elected to his four-year term in 2022, Reed would not need to give up his state Senate seat to run against Massie.

Reed has not responded to multiple requests for comment on his status or whether or not he has visited the White House to discuss the race.