The president’s Republican nemesis, Rep. Thomas Massie, blasted Fox News as “slop” in a bitter concession speech after losing Kentucky’s GOP primary to Trump-backed challenger Ed Gallrein.
Massie, 55, accused Fox News of banning him for 18 months amid his escalating feud with President Donald Trump, before finally inviting him on air on Tuesday.
“By the way, after 18 months of a blackout of not letting me on Fox, they finally let me on Fox today, four hours into the election,” the seven-term Kentucky congressman told supporters during his concession speech.
The crowd booed loudly as Massie continued his attack on the conservative network.
“Hey, their slop is selling, so they will keep selling it,” he continued. “But listen, I got to watch Fox also for the first time in 18 months.”
The Daily Beast has contacted Fox News for comment.
Massie lost the Republican primary for Kentucky’s 4th congressional District to Ed Gallrein, a former Navy SEAL and farmer backed by Trump. Gallrein has pledged to help advance Trump’s agenda in Congress.
The Associated Press called the race at 7:54 p.m., with Gallrein winning 54.4 percent of the vote.
The result marks the latest victory for Trump in his ongoing campaign to purge Republicans he views as insufficiently loyal to him. The president had repeatedly targeted Massie in recent months, escalating a feud that began during Trump’s first term.
Trump’s frustration with Massie escalated last year after the congressman opposed his budget bill and slammed his foreign policy approach in the Middle East. Massie has also pushed for the full release of files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The president publicly attacked Massie on Truth Social during his campaign, and branded him the “worst congressman in U.S. history.”
In a Monday post urging supporters to oust Massie, Trump called him a “Weak and Pathetic RINO,” the “Worst ‘Republican’ Congressman in History” and a “totally ineffective LOSER.”
Earlier Tuesday, Fox News invited Massie onto America’s Newsroom, where he attempted to defend both his conservative record and his relationship with Trump voters.
“Most of the people voting for me support President Trump, like I do,” Massie told host Bill Hemmer.
But Massie struck a far more combative tone shortly after during his concession speech, which lasted more than 20 minutes.
“When I was called a moron at the prayer breakfast, I said, ‘I’m glad I’m in his prayers,” Massie said. “We weren’t running against Ed Gallrein. We weren’t running against Donald Trump. We were running for what we believe in.”
Gallrein used his victory speech to thank Trump.
“America first, Kentucky always,” Gallrein told supporters at his watch party after thanking Trump “for his leadership at this critical time.”
